My Sweet Heart's Rival
by Amethyst Tiger
Summary: Everything is going great in Yusuke and Keiko's life until one day, an old rival of Keiko's shows up! What will happen? What will Yusuke do? And mostly, what will Keiko do? Read and find out. COMPLETE!
1. Default Chapter

My Sweet Heart's Rival  
  
By: Amethyst Tiger  
Disclaimer: Me: Hello  
Random Person: Oh hi.  
Me: Guess what!  
Random Person: Okay, um . . . you like chicken.  
Me: Nope!  
Random Person: Uh . . . the sky is falling and you lost your pants?  
Me: (sweat drops) Not quite.  
Random Person: Oh wait, I got it! You ran into huge piece of plastic covering your doorway once!  
Me: (blinks) Nah, man, four times, but that's not it.  
Random Person: Oh. Hm . . . well uh . . . how 'bout . . . you don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.  
Me: Bingo! (Wow, he's good, huh?)  
Author's Note: Hello everyone. Well, I haven't had any new stories lately, but the other day I was in student center thinking about Yu Yu Hakusho (what else???) and an idea popped into my head. I don't know how you will all like this story, and I guess the first chapter doesn't pertain much to the coming chapters, but bare with me would you? Anyway, I'm pretty accepting of any reviews you'd like to send me (hint, hint, wink, wink . . . ^_^,). So flame me or praise me or just say hey. It doesn't matter really, I just like hearing from people. So, I guess that about sums it all up. I hope you read this and enjoy. Thanks!  
Chapter: 1  
The day was unusually hot and humid. The sun blazed a bright, fiery gold against the blue azure sky, and Yusuke sighed as he gazed out the large classroom window. He supposed that the day was also unusual because he both showed up at school and in class. Yes, definitely unusual. Normally he'd be up on the roof day dreaming or something else less productive, but today was hot and heavy, and the school was air-conditioned. Oh well, at least his appearance had made Keiko happy. So happy in fact that, when no one was looking, she had given him a quick kiss on the lips. Now THAT was unusual as Keiko wasn't a huge fan of showing public affection. He grinned. He wondered what he'd have to do in order to get to kiss her back. Suddenly, the bell rang, and the clatter of kids talking and gathering their books filled the room.  
Yusuke shook his head to clear his mind from the daze he had let it slip in to. He gathered his own books and let out a yawn as he headed for the door. He was one of the last kids out and just before he was able to step out, the teacher's voice called him back.  
"Mr. Urameshi, I trust you found the lecture most interesting today." He said.  
Yusuke rolled his eyes. He turned around to face the taller, older man with scowl.  
"Yeah, it was awe inspiring." He replied, sarcasm dripping from his voice.  
The teacher's already present frown deepened considerably.  
"You do know that you are failing this class, don't you?"  
To this Yusuke had to smirk. Of coarse he knew! How couldn't he? He hadn't done one assignment all year, let alone turn one in!  
"Ch! I'm failing everyone's class, what makes you so special?" He retorted.  
The teacher's frown deepened even further, which Yusuke hadn't thought was possible until that moment, and his face began to turn from a pale, pasty color to a bright red. The ruler that he had been holding in his hand was beginning to shutter due to its owner's rage shaking arms. His knuckles were turning white as well. There was a moment of dead silence, Yusuke smirking challengingly, and the teacher grinding his teeth in anger. Then, he began to open his lips, about ready to say something. Suddenly, and quite out of nowhere, Keiko popped up.  
"Good afternoon Mr. Shou!" She greeted cheerily.  
Mr. Shou's angry expression fumbled to a silly look of surprise at Keiko's abrupt appearance.  
Yusuke regarded the girl with a raised eyebrow. Keiko didn't seem to mind this, for she only linked her arm with Yusuke's.  
"Mr. Shou, I couldn't help but hear your conversation with Yusuke, and I must tell you that Yusuke has never been good with words. What he meant to say was that, yes, he's failing your class, but he's failing everyone else's too, so it's nothing personal. However, I have heard that you have a report due very soon that is worth a large sum of points, is that right?"  
He opened his mouth to speak again, but Keiko did not wait for him.  
"Well, Yusuke will have it turned in right on time, typed, 12 point, with a decent opening paragraph and a fantastic concluding paragraph. All of your required information and more will be in the body and the grammar will absolutely perfect. Now, I can guarantee this, but if he turns it in as per your requirements, will it salvage his grade?"  
This time she allowed a fair amount of time for him to speak. He pushed his glasses up on his nose, and he cleared his throat, regaining his composure finally.  
"Ms. Yukimura, in order to save this boy's grade the report would have to be consummately perfect. Why, not even the paper could be wrinkled. Even then, I can only promise a high D or possibly a low C." He said, his eyes resting on her, and then briefly on Yusuke who had his head turned away to the side.  
Keiko nodded.  
"Yes, but a D is passing, is it not?"  
There was a pause, but Mr. Shou nodded.  
"Yes, it is." He agreed.  
Keiko smiled.  
"Fine, expect it to be the finest report you've ever had the pleasure of grading. Good day, Mr. Shou." She said, and with that, she turned on her heel, dragging a confused Yusuke with her.  
Keiko closed the classroom door behind her and let out a sigh. She released Yusuke's arm and leaned against the wall. Yusuke looked at her. He blinked. She didn't say anything, so Yusuke took it upon himself.  
"Keiko, what did you just get me in to?"  
She finally spared him a glance before pushing away from the wall and walking away at a leisure pace. The boy caught up to her side.  
"Keiko?"  
"What I just got you into . . . hopefully anyway, is high school."  
"What?"  
She stopped to look at him sternly.  
"Yusuke, I don't want to go on to high school without you, okay? Honestly, I don't know how you made it this far, but if you don't pass all your classes there is no way you can come with me. High school . . . well it's a big step in life. It's where every grade, every action counts towards the future Yusuke, and I don't want to go without you." She said.  
Keiko's eyes were pleading. She had known Yusuke since kindergarten and never had any other REAL friends, or at least none like him. Yusuke had always been there to protect her and she had always been there for him for . . . for everything. Her hand tightened on the handle of her bag, and she fought off tears. Surely, this was nothing to get upset over. How she hated showing how truly feminine she was. She closed her eyes, and sighed. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder, very gentle, very caring. She opened her eyes and met Yusuke's dark ones.  
"Keiko, please don't worry. I promise that I'll be there." He said quietly.  
There was something in his voice that made Keiko blush ever so slightly. She looked away and tried to slow her heartbeat. Yusuke Urameshi . . . he had never broken a promise to her . . . ever.  
"If you break that promise Yusuke," She said softly, and suddenly faced him fully with fierce, threatening eyes. "You aren't going to be able to walk right for a week!" And with that little outburst, she stalked off. Yusuke sweat dropped, and ran to catch up with her.  
At least an hour later found the pair in the park sipping away at sodas on a wooden bench. It was still very hot, so Yusuke had removed his green jacket, now clad in his pants and light, cotton shirt. Keiko had changed out of her uniform, now wearing a pair of decently short, khaki shorts and a dark blue, sleeveless, button up shirt that was fairly form fitting.  
She shoved a piece of stray hair that had fallen from the ponytail behind her ear.  
"Okay Yusuke. First things first. You have to decide on a topic. Mr. Shou says that it must be about an animal." She said.  
Keiko grabbed a pen that she had clipped on her pocket and opened the notebook that was lying in her lap. She crossed her legs to better support the notebook for writing.  
"So what'll it be?"  
Yusuke shrugged.  
"I dunno. I don't know anything about animals." He replied, rolling his eyes.  
Keiko shook her head.  
"Yusuke, the point of the report is to find out!" She exclaimed.  
Keiko knocked him playfully against the head. Yusuke grinned.  
"Okay, okay. Lemme think. An animal . . . I could do it on Kuwabara."  
Keiko gasped, but giggled despite herself.  
"Yusuke, that's so mean, Kuwabara isn't even here to defend himself!"  
Yusuke shrugged.  
"That makes it all the more easy."  
They shared the laughter for a moment, reminding them of all of the times that they had laughed so freely as children talking of things that they had yet to understand.  
"C'mon now, we have to work. The report is due next Friday." Keiko coaxed after a while of regaining her composure.  
Yusuke sighed.  
"Right, right. Okay, well I wanna do something that is going to be easy to find out about . . ." He started.  
Keiko bit her lip, and then nodded.  
"Yes, and you'll definitely want a lot of sources for the bibliography. Some quotes would be nice too."  
Yusuke nodded this time.  
"Right, and the animal should have a lot of history to relate other points to." He said.  
A brief pause ensued, and then they both looked at each other, a mutual thought clicking in their minds.  
"Yusuke . . ." Keiko started.  
He grinned.  
"Kurama should be home from school by now, let' go pay him a visit and see if he can lay a little bit of that vulpine knowledge on us."  
He said this around a wide, signature grin. He stood up and he extended his hand out to a still seated Keiko, who took it. Yusuke pulled her to her feet and they walked off, shoulder to shoulder.  
When they arrived at Kurama's house, they immediately looked to his window, which they noticed was open. That meant he was home. Kurama always left the window open for Hiei as the fire demon had a long lasting grudge against doors, although, for the life of them they couldn't figure out why.  
Yusuke shook his head as they continued their short walk up to the door. Keiko knocked very slightly against it, and almost immediately Shiori opened it. The kindly woman smiled. They couldn't have helped smiling back even if they had wanted to. Shiori had a very pretty smile, quite radiant, and the small wrinkles, the laugh lines, around her eyes made her eyes twinkle so sweetly. Her slender hands looked damp, most likely from doing the dishes. A pale pink apron was somewhat stained, probably from the constant baking she was known for doing.  
"Keiko, Yusuke, come in." She said, stepping aside to allow them entrance. Yusuke let Keiko go in, and he brought up the rear. Shiori closed the door behind them, and she waited patiently as they removed their shoes. They followed her into the kitchen where they found that, in fact, Shiori was cleaning up the dishes that she had just used to bake a batch of fresh, warm, sweet smelling cookies.  
"Shuuichi is up in his room, you can go on up, I don't think he'll mind." She said. Yusuke nodded. He turned to begin the incline up the stairs, this time Keiko following him, but Shiori stopped them.  
"Wait just a minute there you two."  
Both teens looked at one another and then turned to face her again.  
"What is it Shiori?" Questioned Keiko.  
The woman smiled one of her lovely smiles.  
"You can't go anywhere without a cookie. Now hold out your hands. Be careful, they're still hot." She said.  
After Keiko and Yusuke were both 'with cookie', so to speak, they were allowed to go up the stairs. Kurama's bedroom was practically right at the top of the stairway, but his door was closed, as per the usual. The fox always kept his bedroom locked . . . his bedroom, his life, his secrets. Kurama kept everything neatly tucked away, locked up in a neat little box that only he was allowed to get into. Well, actually, Hiei and Kurama were very close. The chance that Hiei knew a lot of those secrets was very large.  
Yusuke shrugged and knocked. There was the sound of shuffling on the other side of the door and then it opened, revealing an easy smiling Kurama in his uniform pants and white cotton under shirt. His brilliant red hair was held back in a low, neat ponytail. Apparently the heat also affected him.  
"Hey Kurama." Greeted Keiko.  
Yusuke smiled at him, letting Keiko speak for both of them. The fox nodded at Yusuke and said hello to Keiko. He let them in to his unbelievably clean room where the pair told them of the report, of Yusuke's grade, and of the fact that Yusuke had decided for his topic to be the fox. To this, Kurama had sweat dropped and chuckled a little bit. Never the less, he agreed to help them. Keiko had compiled a list of questions that they would ask him, but none of them wanted to stay cooped up in the house. So Kurama brushed through his hair, changed into a pair of blue jeans and met Keiko and Yusuke downstairs. He told his dear Kaasan that he was leaving, but that he would be back soon. At the door he, Keiko, and Yusuke slipped on their shoes and out they went, seconds later finding the trio at a small café. They were seated at table right next to a huge window where they could watch as people continued with their daily lives, shopping, laughing, chatting, so on and so forth.  
"Okay, so what is the life expectancy?" Keiko asked, her notebook open on the tabletop, pen in hand.  
A small smile tugged at Kurama's lips, but he concealed it behind his cup of coffee.  
"For the ningen idea of a fox, or for a kitsune?"  
"Kitsune. We can get all of the usual information from the library or online. Yusuke wants to add a section about mythology . . . er . . . what is considered mythology here, right Yusuke?" Keiko asked, facing the questioned.  
Yusuke, who hadn't truly been paying attention nodded dumbly. Keiko rolled her eyes and mumbled something incoherent. She quickly turned back to an amused Kurama.  
"Anyway, so what is it again?"  
Kurama thought a moment.  
"900 to 1000." He answered.  
Keiko wrote it down.  
"Really? That long, huh?" She asked after she had finished.  
Kurama nodded.  
"Wow . . . so then, how old are you?"  
The fox set down his cup and laced his fingers together. He balanced his chin atop his entwined fingers and briefly closed his eyes.  
"I'm 600." He replied quite matter-of-factly.  
Keiko raised her eyebrows.  
"Ya look good for your age." She said teasingly, and Kurama cracked a smile at this.  
A good half hour must have passed before they decided to take their leave of the café. They found themselves talking as friends would do out on the busy sidewalks, watching the people, all in all enjoying each other's company.  
"Okay, okay, so the then the doctor says, 'don't worry, he's an American!'" Yusuke finished his punch line, quite pleased when both Kurama and Keiko started laughing, actually holding their stomachs.  
He smiled. He loved making people laugh, and he was actually good at it. Sarcasm, fighting, and making other people laugh were his specialties. To him there was nothing more beautiful than hearing laughter . . . except for Keiko when she was angry. He hadn't ever told her, but she looked very cute and pretty when she was angry. He probably wouldn't tell her . . . he preferred to avoid any of her power smacks. Out of all of his opponents, the only one who he'd failed to beat was Keiko. Heh, go figure.  
Suddenly, Yusuke noticed a lack of a pair of footsteps. Kurama was at his side, he saw him out of the corner of his eye, so then, where was Keiko. He turned around and saw her standing stalk still, her eyes wide and fierce. Her vision was obviously trained on one, very specific point. He squinted his eyes, looking in the direction that she was. At first, all he saw was moving, bustling people, but then he caught a glimpse of platinum blonde hair. Like the ocean that split apart for Moses, the crowd seemed to go around her. His eyes went wide.  
"No way . . ." He started.  
He looked over at the still glaring Keiko.  
". . . Keiko?"  
The girl's eyes narrowed.  
"It's Amissa." 


	2. My Sweet Heart's Rival Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of it's lovely, wonderful, fabulous, perfect, gorgeous, fascinating, stupendous, exciting, unbelievable, dreamy, sweet, great, dandy, nifty, spiffy characters! Okay, so did you get all that? Great! Onward!  
Author's Note: Hey everyone. So it appears that lot's of people like Yusuke/Keiko fics. Cool, I love that couple; they're just so great! Anyway, I've been having a little trouble gathering my thoughts on this story, so this chapter is a little short, and the story is going kind of slow thus far, but now worries! I'll finish it in due time. So thank you to all those who have been reading this, and thanks to all of those who will. Please Enjoy! ^_^  
Chapter: 2  
  
The girl, who had been obviously identified as Amissa, took a few graceful steps towards them. She was quite lovely really. Her platinum blonde hair was long, straight, and silky looking. It tumbled like waves down to her slender waist and she wore a thick, black headband. She was about as tall as Keiko, well filled out, with pale, flawless skin and dark, azure that took on the color of amethyst in the right light. She wore blue jean shorts, white sneakers, and a simple, v-neck t-shirt. She approached them with a strange, haughty smile on her lips, and her hand on one of her hips.  
"Keiko." She said, a bitter tone in her voice.  
Keiko put on a steely expression.  
"Amissa." She replied.  
There was a long pause as both girls stared at one another, emotionless. Yusuke took a few steps back. The tension held fast to the air, and he could feel it. He watched them at what he felt was a safer distance. Amissa had grown to be quite lovely, her beauty rivaling Keiko's, although, to him, Keiko still had her beat. She always had, even when they were younger.  
Suddenly, Keiko turned her head away, breaking their eye contact. Amissa did the same. With out another glance towards one another, they walked away in opposite directions. Amissa disappeared into the bustling crowd, while Keiko walked back to join her two friends. Yusuke eyed her.  
"Uh . . . Keiko . . ."  
She didn't look at him.  
"Yusuke, I'm going home for the evening. I'll see you tomorrow. Kurama, take care."  
And with those simple farewells, she left, also being consumed by the sea of floundering people. Yusuke and Kurama watched her until they could not do so any longer. Then, the youko turned human, looked to Yusuke.  
"Would you mind filling me on what that was about?" He asked.  
Yusuke nodded at him. They walked to the park; the sun was beginning to set, and the air-cooling to a comfortable temperature. They took a seat on the plentiful grass surrounding a lake, gratified that there were only a few people about. Most of them were kissing and carrying on, so when they saw the two boys appear, they left to go find a place more private.  
Yusuke picked a few blades of grass and tore them into smaller pieces. Finally, he let them fall from his hands and back to the ground. He repeated this process over and over until there was a slight bare spot on the ground. Kurama shook his head and placed a gentle hand over the abused ground. A dull, green glow surrounded his hand and seeped into the earth beneath it. He lifted his hand and the rude, balding spot was lush with green grass. Yusuke shrugged.  
"Well, it all started back when we were in kindergarten. Ya know that's where Keiko and I first meant." He began.  
Kurama nodded. His vivid green eyes stared out at the gleaming lake waters that were bathed in the dying sunlight. But Kurama was listening, Yusuke knew he was . . . Kurama always listened. He sighed and continued.  
"Yeah well, one day, Keiko and I were on the playground playing in the sandbox. The game was really simple. We would build this really cool sand castle thingy, and then we'd play Knight and Princess. Well anyway, the point was that the princess would have to be saved by the knight, so Keiko was on her pretend horse riding up to save me and-hey quit laughing, Kurama!"  
Indeed, the fox covered his mouth to try and muffle his chuckles. Yusuke scowled.  
"Keiko was the knight a lot of times 'cause she said that the princess was too girlie. According to her it was okay for ME to be the princess because I was already a boy and didn't have to worry about being girlie. She also said that she didn't like pink and that the dress brought out my eyes."  
Kurama burst out laughing this time. Tears actually rolled out of his eyes, and he held his stomach. He couldn't help laughing. He had the hilarious image of a toddler type Yusuke dressed in a frilly pink dress yelling 'save me' while a toddler type Keiko galloped up on her invisible steed. It was just too perfect! So Kurama laughed until he ran out of most of his laughter, although, he couldn't help but chuckle every now and then. Yusuke's face kept getting more and more indignant. The boy crossed his arms over his chest.  
"Are you done now?" He asked dryly.  
Kurama muffled another laugh but nodded. Yusuke sighed, uncrossed his arms, gave Kurama one last warning look, and continued. "Well, so it all happened like this . . ."  
****Flash Back****  
"Help! Help! Save me!" Cried a small boy dressed in pink.  
The boy stood in the middle of a large sand castle and wailed.  
"Don't fear princess, for I will save you!" Called a small little girl.  
She tried to speak in a deep voice, and she galloped with a stick in her hand, for she was the brave knight, sworn to save, honor, and protect the lovely princess, Yusukina!  
Keiko galloped nobly across sandbox, determined to rescue the damsel in distress, when all of the sudden, someone ran right into her, knocking her to the ground. She dropped her wonderful sword and lay sprawled out in the grainy sand. She moaned, having had the wind knocked out of her a little. Gradually, she pushed herself up to a sitting position.  
"Ow . . . my head . . ." She said in a small voice.  
Her hand rubbed the back of her head and she winced slightly at the forming bump. When she pulled her hand away, she examined it thoroughly, although she didn't know why, but she saw adults do it when ever they got hit in the head, so she figured that there had to be a very good reason, and that she should do it too. She looked around then, her chubby cheeks tinted red out of anger. How dare someone knock down the great knight? They would pay dearly! She jumped to her feet and retrieved her sword.  
"Who did that?" She demanded.  
A few kids looked up from their activities, but none answered at first. Then, a shrill, squeaky voice cut through the air.  
"I did." It said.  
Keiko looked to see a girl about her height, same age, with blue eyes and short, curly blonde hair. Keiko scowled.  
"Why'd you knock me down?" She asked.  
The girl shrugged.  
"I was playing tag and you got it my way." Answered the other girl.  
Keiko stomped toward her, little fists clenched.  
"I was her first. You shouldn't a pushed me." She said.  
The other girl shrugged again.  
"What're you gunna do 'bout it, huh? Cry to your mama?"  
Keiko's cheeks turned even redder, and with a sudden burst of anger, she tackled the other young toddler to the ground. The girl let out a shrill scream of surprise and when they hit the ground, she started to kick and yell wildly. Keiko straddled her waist and glared at her.  
"Crybaby." She accused, and then rolled off of her.  
The little girl on the ground narrowed her eyes.  
"I am not a crybaby!"  
Keiko stuck her tongue out at her.  
"Are too."  
"Am not! My name is Amissa and my papa is a very successful bu'ness man." Amissa said, and climbed to her feet.  
The moment she stood though, Keiko gave her a rough shove, and Amissa stumbled backwards, but managed to keep herself from actually falling.  
"I don't care 'bout your papa, crybaby." Keiko said, and with one last sneer, she turned on her heel and went to finish her rescue mission.  
****End Flash Back****  
"And they've been enemies ever since." Finished Yusuke.  
Kurama looked over at him.  
"Wow, Keiko was the last one on my list of 'People With Rivals'."  
Yusuke nodded.  
"Amissa and Keiko competed in EVERYTHING from that day on, but then one summer, Amissa moved away. Her dad had gotten a job offer that paid more and had better benefits, so they left. I remember Keiko was so happy that day that she ran up hugged me, and kissed me on the cheek."  
Yusuke smiled softly at that memory. It had surprised him, but Keiko had been so excited that she hadn't even realized she'd done it. Kurama smiled over at his friend's warm expression.  
"Yusuke."  
"Hm?"  
"Do you really love her?" He asked.  
The dark-eyed boy faced Kurama fully, his expression was determined, and completely without doubt.  
"With all my soul." He replied, and the golden sun shone its last rays of light as it disappeared from the sky. 


	3. My Sweet Heart's Rival Chapter 3

Disclaimer: If I owned Yu Yu Hakusho, I'd be making way more than just 112 episodes, and I probably wouldn't be writing this, so I think it's safe to say that no, I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho . . . life is such a cruel, cruel thing!  
Author's Note: Hello everyone! How are you all? Well I hope. I've gotten some very nice reviews from people lately, and I'm grateful to everyone who read this. You guys are great. Well, this is Chapter Three, so please read it and enjoy. Thanks again!  
Chapter: 3  
Yusuke sighed. The weather was so strange. The day before it had been terribly hot and muggy, now the temperature was very lenient: cool, but not hot, breezy, but not windy, and the sky was full of puffy white clouds. He rolled his eyes. He couldn't believe he was going to school! This was the perfect day to skip and go do something more entertaining. The only thing stopping him was his promise to Keiko. He'd never broken a promise to her before and he wasn't about to start. The school year was nearly over anyway, and he had to pass the eighth grade. Oh well, life goes on he supposed.  
He dragged himself through the doors of the junior high school, to his locker, and then to class. As he entered, several students eyed him warily. He merely scowled at them, and they averted their eyes, ignoring his presence completely. Yusuke dropped his books atop his desk and plopped into it. He hated English class! It was so boring. All they did was read stupid things by old dead people. Frankly, he didn't see the point in it. On the other hand, English was Keiko's favorite class. Even Kuwabara liked it, but Yusuke thought that that made a certain amount of sense. After all, Kuwabara was very good at reading between the lines and finding the over all meaning of things, he figured that that skill was due to his taller friend's empathic abilities.  
Suddenly, the bell rang, urging people into their seats. Moments later the teacher walked in with a bright smile. He hated English, but he had to admit, he was fond of its teacher. Her name was Ms. Maggie Yugumai. She was young, in fact, the youngest on the staff, and she was friendly and full of energy and life. She was intelligent, and she seemed to be on very good terms with all of her students, whom she constantly proclaimed adoration for. Ms. Yugumai was definitely a far cry from many of the other teachers in the building. Because he respected her, Yusuke paid attention to the best of his abilities. He could not help it if he spaced off occasionally, but at least he read when he was asked to read, and he even started his homework assignment despite the fact that he had no intention of finishing it. The class seemed interminable, but eventually the bell rang and everyone filed out of the classroom in flutter of girlish giggles and rapid talking. Yusuke however, hung back. He made sure that the class was empty before approaching Ms. Yugumai's desk. She looked up from her writing and smiled a surprised smile.  
"Why, Yusuke. Hello." She said cheerily.  
Yusuke was nervous. He had never approached a teacher about something like this before.  
"Uh . . . hi. I was wondering if I could ask you something."  
The woman nodded enthusiastically.  
"Of coarse, ask away." She coaxed.  
Yusuke shifted his weight to his other foot, for some reason he was unable to find a comfortable position to stand in.  
"Listen, I know I haven't had the best attendance record in here, and I know I don't really turn in my work or anything, but I really need to pass this class."  
There, he'd said it, but that didn't mean it was over.  
Ms. Yugumai cross her arms over her chest and leaned back in her swivel chair. She fiddled with the pen between her fingers.  
"Why?" She asked finally, and her eyes were locked on him.  
Yusuke blinked.  
" . . . What?"  
"Yusuke, you haven't shown the slightest bit of interest in this class all year. Your attendance record HAS been quite terrible, and you're missing all but one of your assignments. So why do you suddenly care so much about passing?"  
He considered. She had several good points. So the question was, should he lie to her or tell her the truth. Something in her bright, blue eyes told him that if he lied, she would know. Those eyes were keeping a secret, and housing a certain twinkle of knowledge. He sighed.  
"I don't care, Ms. Yugumai." He said.  
Her expression did not change, which meant she knew he had more to say.  
"I could care less if I pass this class or not. I don't even like English that much. But I want to . . . HAVE to pass this class because of a promise."  
This seemed to intrigue her. She set down her pen and picked up a paperweight to play with in its stead.  
"A promise, hm? Interesting. What kind of promise, Yusuke?"  
"A promise that I made to Keiko. I promised her that I'd graduate with her. Ms. Yugumai, I've never broken a promise to her, and I don't want to have to start now."  
She sighed and set down the paperweight. Then she looked up at him with a sweet smile.  
"Keiko and you. You're just the most unlikely couple, but I can see that you care for her very much, don't you?" She asked.  
Yusuke nodded.  
The young woman opened her desk drawer and rummaged through a collection of pencils, papers, erasers, chalk, and other random items. Finally, she pulled something out and closed the drawer. In her hand she held a sheet of slightly crumpled paper. She laid it on the desktop, and she smoothed it out.  
"Do you recognize this? This is the one assignment that you turned in, Yusuke. I assigned it at the beginning of the year. It was to be titled, The One I Cherish Most. In it, you wrote that you didn't have many people who you truly cherished, but the ones that you did were dear to you. You spoke of three very particular boys who were your trusted friends, and then of Ms. Yukimura. You wrote that you two were involved with one another, but that first and foremost, she was your best friend. I read your paper Yusuke, and I was touched. Despite how you act, you're a very genuine, kind- hearted individual. You are sincere in your words when it counts, and that is something to be admired."  
Yusuke bit his lip. This was very strange to hear coming out of a teacher's mouth.  
"So, the question remains. Will I pass you? Perhaps, but only on one condition."  
She said this and sat forward in her chair, resting her elbows on the desk.  
He fidgeted.  
"Like what?" He asked cautiously.  
"You must come in every day after school for one hour. You will help me grade papers and, together, we will read Shakespeare and Poe. Is it a deal?" She asked.  
She stuck out her hand.  
Yusuke stared at her wide-eyed, and then at her slender hand. He blinked once, twice, gulped, and grabbed her hand. They shook on it, and Ms. Yugumai smiled.  
"Great. We'll start tomorrow, and I promise, if you don't like English now, by the time I'm through with you, you will. Now you'd better get going to your next class or you'll be late."  
Yusuke nodded and said good-bye as he left. He couldn't believe he'd just done that, it was weird, and yet, he felt okay with it. He didn't understand why, but the prospect of working with Ms. Yugumai wasn't so very terrible. He shrugged and shuffled off to his next class.  
Much to his good fortune, the teacher in History was ill and they couldn't find a substitute teacher, so all of the students in that class got a free period. Yusuke snuck out of the classroom. He walked the familiar hallways, up a familiar flight of stairs, and onto a familiar roof. He sighed as the breeze hit his face, playing with his hair and whistling a hollow melody. He looked around. He could see all of the school from the rooftop and a good portion of the surrounding area. The sound of a whistle being blown caught his attention. He peeked over the edge that overlooked the gym, field, and track. It was the girl's gym period, and if he remembered correctly, Keiko's too. He smiled as he saw her walk out of the locker room. She was surrounded by a group of eagerly talking girls. Yusuke frowned. All of Keiko's friends drove him insane. They were so girlie and shrill sounding. He didn't know how Keiko stood them. He gulped then as he caught the sight of long, blonde hair glistening in the sun.  
"Oh . . . well this should be interesting." He commented.  
He made himself comfortable.  
Meanwhile, Keiko chatted happily with her friends.  
"No, I missed two." She said.  
Caitlin gasped.  
"No way Keiko, YOU didn't get 100%! I'm shocked!"  
Keiko laughed.  
"C'mon you guys, I'm not perfect!"  
Erica rolled her eyes.  
"Oh yeah? Well that's not what Lee thinks."  
Caitlin squealed.  
"Oh yeah Keiko, we forgot to tell you! Lee was talking to a bunch of his friends and he said that he liked you and that he was going to ask you out! Aren't you excited?"  
Keiko raised an eyebrow.  
"No. I hate Lee, he's arrogant. All he ever does is talk about himself."  
Cori rolled her eyes.  
"Oh, and that violent, juvenile delinquent is better?" She asked sarcastically.  
Keiko smiled fondly.  
"Yusuke is . . . difficult sometimes, but he's a good person. He has a good heart." She replied softly.  
The girls giggled.  
"Keiko, you're so melodramatic!"  
The whistle was blown again, bringing all of their attention to the teacher.  
"Alright ladies, listen up. Today, we'll be running a relay race. There will be four teams. The winning team doesn't have to do the usual 30 sit- ups. Now line up and number off 1,2,3,4. All ones are on team number one; twos are team number two, exedra, exedra."  
The girls formed their teams and the first runners took their colored sticks in hand. The teacher blew the whistle and the race began. They ran two laps before tagging the next person. Keiko was third, and she waited with her hand out to grab the stick. She saw her teammate come running up, and the moment the stick landed in her hand, she took off. Keiko smiled as she left the other runners behind her. She was the fastest girl in her class. Suddenly, something grabbed her attention. She saw something out of the corner of her eye, and then she heard running footsteps. She turned her head to the side and gasped. Amissa was running right along beside her. The blonde looked over at her, seemingly surprised to see her, and then she glared at her. There was a challenge in her blue eyes as she began to pick up her pace.  
'So you want to race, fine.' Keiko said in her mind.  
She started running faster as well. She began to get ahead of Amissa, but then the girl caught up and was ahead of her. This went on for the entire first lap. In the second, Keiko fell behind a bit, but she managed to get at Amissa's side and soon was far out in front of her. At this point she was feeling rather good about the race when suddenly, out of nowhere, Amissa ran up to her side and rammed her elbow against Keiko's ribs. The girl cried out, lost her footing and fell to the ground. She skidded across the track's black pavement, leaving a trail of smeared blood behind, for the hot, rough surface tore at the skin on her legs. Keiko groaned when she came to a halt. She winced at the pain in her abused legs, but lifted her head. Amissa had stopped a ways up, and Keiko could see her smiling proudly. She heard yelling voices asking if she was all right, and then several people started coming towards her. But Amissa's smiling face was all that she could look at and she was filled with a sudden wave of anger. Suddenly, and much to everyone's surprise, Keiko climbed to her feet, and took off towards Amissa. She could feel the blood running down her legs, staining her white socks and sneakers. She didn't care, for the gratifying feeling of tackling a very surprised Amissa to the ground completely out classed the pain. Keiko grinned as she straddled the other girl's hips.  
"Hm . . . doesn't this seem familiar?" She asked.  
Amissa shoved Keiko off and sat up. At about this time the teacher came running up with most of the class behind him. He looked both shocked, and angry.  
"Yukimura, Bennet! My office, now!" He ordered.  
Keiko and Amissa got up off the ground, and headed towards the office.  
"This is all YOUR fault." Amissa whispered harshly.  
Keiko rolled her eyes.  
"My fault? You shoved me!"  
"You tackled me!"  
"Only because you elbowed me in the ribs!"  
Their bickering continued until the teacher yelled at them to shut-up, and even then they threw glares at one another.  
Back up on the roof, Yusuke shook his head. He hoped Keiko didn't get into any trouble. Amissa had initiated everything, she always did. He hoped Keiko was all right too, as he was close enough to see that she had bloodied her legs. He shrugged, well, she was tough anyway.  
The bell rang then, and he sighed as he left the roof. Fun, another wonderful class to attend. 


	4. My Sweet Heart's Rival Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I can't think of anything witty to say here, and I'm tired, so I'd just like to make it clear that no, I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of its characters. They belong to their creators (the lucky bastards), and that's that, okay? Great.  
Author's Note: Hello everyone. Well, this is Chapter 4. I hope you enjoy reading this, so I'll see you later. I'm going to bed. Thanks and please enjoy.  
Chapter: 4  
"Hey, Yusuke, wait up!"  
Yusuke stopped and turned around at the sound of Keiko's familiar voice. She caught up to him and they began walking together.  
"So listen, I have acting in about a half hour, but afterwards, let's get together and work on your report, okay?" Keiko said.  
Yusuke frowned. He didn't want to, but . . .  
"Yeah, sure." He said dryly.  
Keiko jumped in front of him. He stopped.  
"Yusuke, how did the talk with Ms. Yugumai go?" She asked.  
"Fine. She says that she'll pass me if I come in every day after school for an hour."  
Keiko beamed.  
"Wonderful. Now all we have to do is compromise in History, Math, and Gym and you should be okay."  
Yusuke nodded. A thought occurred to him then.  
"Keiko, how's your injury?" He asked, genuinely concerned.  
The girl's honey colored eyes widened slightly, and she blushed.  
"How'd you find out?" She asked.  
"I had a free period so I snuck up on the roof. I saw everything."  
"Oh, uh . . . well, I'll live. Teacher let us off with a warning. Hm, things are so hard now that she's back. It's driving me insane."  
"Hey c'mon, you're so much better than she is Keiko. You're smarter, more kind . . . prettier." Yusuke said.  
He gave her a small, crooked smile of reassurance, and Keiko smiled back.  
"Keep thinking that way Urameshi, 'cause if I ever see you with her there won't be a demon in the Makai who could stop me from wailing on your sorry ass." Keiko replied playfully. She gave him a light punch on the shoulder.  
"One more thing. Go to the library and start collecting information now. I'll meet you there later."  
She paused.  
"Um . . . you should probably bring Kurama with you. He'll keep you on task, okay? Bye."  
And with that, she turned in the opposite direction and walked off. Yusuke watched her leave before letting out a sigh. Research . . . yeah, that's definitely what he felt like doing.  
Two hours passed that evening and Yusuke was still in the library with Kurama. The fox searched the net, while Yusuke flipped through pages in a large collection of books that he'd found. He had Keiko's notebook and was writing sources and key information when Kuwabara rushed.  
"Urameshi!" He yelled. His voice echoed, and he got a harsh 'hush' from the librarian.  
Kuwabara apologized hastily and all but sprinted over to the table where Yusuke sat. The taller boy's outburst had drawn Kurama toward the other two boys. Yusuke lifted and eyebrow.  
"What is it Kuwabara?" He asked, as his friend looked fairly anxious.  
"It's about Keiko."  
This caught Yusuke's attention, and his expression turned very serious. Kurama pulled out a seat and motioned for Kuwabara to sit and explain. Then, the redhead also sat down.  
"Right well I was at school and heard that the acting class was doing their try-outs today. I didn't have anything else to do, so I went in to watch because I knew Keiko was in there. Well so, I sat down and everything was lit up on stage and there were people practicing their lines and the teacher sat up front, taking notes I guess. So Keiko was up and she was trying out for the lead role, and she did awesome, but then this other blonde girl came up and she did well too. The teacher liked them both, but she ended up and gave the part to the blonde girl because she was new here. Keiko looked really angry, but otherwise she was pretty nice about it, and then the class ended and I was going to meet Keiko outside. I was waiting at the gate when I saw her and her friends come out, but then the blonde girl came out with a group of her own friends. She said something, I couldn't hear it, but Keiko was angry enough to say something back and then the blonde one said something. Keiko looked really pissed off about it though, and the next thing I know, she flew at the other one, knocked her to the ground and she slapped her across the face. Well the blonde girl managed to grab Keiko's wrists long enough to get up, then she backhanded Keiko who smacked her right back. A lot of the other girls were screaming or looking just plain scared. Keiko had the upper hand for a long time, and then something happened. Keiko went to punch the blonde girl, but the blonde, out of sheer luck I think, caught Keiko's fist in an attempt to block the hit, and when she realized that she had Keiko's fist in her hand, she just kind of smiled and twisted her wrist, Keiko cried out and then there was this cracking noise. At about that time I ran up and the blonde girl and her friends backed up and eventually left. Keiko's friends and I helped Keiko up and took her home. Her wrist is broken pretty badly." Kuwabara finished.  
Yusuke sat back in his seat in both surprise that it had happened, and relief that it hadn't been worse. Kurama looked at him with concerned eyes. Kuwabara took a deep breath.  
"But, Keiko told me to come here and tell you that she's sorry she couldn't make it." He said.  
Yusuke cracked a smile, and chuckled a little bit. Leave it to Keiko to worry about something like that. He sighed and closed the book he had in front of him. He examined his stack of literature, chose a few select books, and gathered them into his arms.  
"I'm going to check these out for later and go over to see her then." He said.  
And so, Yusuke checked out the books, and left, followed by Kurama and Kuwabara. Kurama gave him a small, brown envelope and told him to sprinkle its contents into Keiko's tea. He said that it would help the healing process as well as dull the pain. Yusuke thanked him and the boys parted their separate ways, Yusuke bound for Keiko's, Kurama and Kuwabara bound for their respective homes.  
A few minutes later caught Yusuke at the Yukimura residence. He knocked. The door opened to reveal Keiko's mother and father. They greeted him warmly and told him to go on up to Keiko's room, that she would be glad to see him. Before he went up, Mrs. Yukimura handed him a tea tray.  
Yusuke knew exactly where Keiko's room was and he didn't even knock before coming in, he never had. A surprise entrance was his custom.  
Keiko looked up when he entered. She was sitting up in her bed reading, and she frowned at him.  
"You could have knocked." She said.  
Yusuke smiled and shrugged.  
"Since when have I ever knocked?"  
Keiko nodded.  
"Touché." She complimented.  
Yusuke set down the tea tray on the nightstand by Keiko's bed. She watched him curiously as he took out the brown package and sprinkled some dull colored grains into the steaming cup of tea. He stirred the tea and handed her the cup. She eyed him and then it.  
"Drink it. The herb that I put in was from Kurama. He said it would help your wrist heal." Yusuke said as he climbed onto the bed, sitting opposite Keiko, cross-legged.  
"Well, how'd the research go?" Keiko inquired.  
Yusuke pulled out Keiko's notebook and flipped the pages to the new information he'd collected and a few printouts that Kurama had given to him. Keiko looked over the notes and nodded in approval.  
"This is all pretty good." She commented, still scanning.  
Yusuke's handwriting was messy and hasty looking, but she had learned, after many years of practice, to read his writing with no problem.  
"Yeah, I got a few books that I want to look through and get some more information from, but I'm almost done."  
"Good. After this, we'll start writing the rough draft; get it checked by Kurama, and Ms. Yugumai, and an English professor that I know out at the college. After that we'll type out the final draft, fasten it in to a portfolio and you will have a passing grade in Science. Am I great or what?" She asked, smiling.  
Yusuke grinned. He decided not to ask about what words had been exchanged between Keiko and Amissa that had caused them to lash out at one another so violently, because he knew that Keiko wasn't proud of it. So the two teens merely chatted with one another about this and that and everything in general for the remainder of the evening, and they were happy.  
The next day was as the prior one, perfect, and Yusuke was, again, in a state of awe that he was in school. He managed to reason with his History teacher. All he had to do was a huge stack of worksheets and take a test afterwards with a passing score of at least a D+. Yusuke wasn't overly worried about that. Although the worksheets would be time consuming, he actually had a knack for history, and so the test wouldn't be terribly hard to pass. His Math teacher was pretty strict, but he liked Keiko, and with her influence Yusuke thought that that class would be taken care of. All he really had to do was confront the gym teacher and he'd be set for graduation. He did wonder why all of the teachers were allowing him to go on, but then he realized that they probably just wanted him out of the building. This thought had made him laugh.  
"Hey, did you hear what happened between Keiko and Amissa yesterday?"  
Yusuke was at his locker when he heard the gossiping girls not far down the hallway.  
"Yes, can you believe it?" The other replied.  
"I dunno, I kind of like Amissa. She's so pretty, and she gives Keiko a run for her money."  
The other girl gasped.  
"Come on. Don't you think that Amissa was cruel for what she did?"  
"Maybe, but then, Keiko acts so . . . perfect all the time. Sometimes, I get a little annoyed about her popularity and things. I think it's about time that she have some competition."  
Yusuke rolled his eyes. Stupid girl.  
"Speaking of competition, I hear Amissa is running for head of the dance committee."  
The other squealed.  
"Really? Keiko is too, which means . . . wow, this could get really crazy."  
Yusuke grabbed his gym bag and closed his locker. Yeah, in fact, with both girls running for the same position, it could get insane. He shook his head. If this was something that he'd have to put up with through high school, then breaking his promise to Keiko was sounding all to good.  
He shook his head and walked off to gym class. For the first time all year he dressed and participated in the "oh so fun" game of touch football. He hated gym class, he hated football, but he played it, and his team won. No one really talked to him, which he was fine with him because he didn't like any of those boys anyway. After class he went to change in the locker room and had to keep from blowing a bunch of them away with his spirit gun when he heard a few saying some very inappropriate things about Keiko and a few other girls, Amissa included.  
He was the last out of the locker room, as he didn't want anyone to see him going to the teacher. Hey, he still had an image to keep!  
He waited for the clear and then went to see the teacher in his office. The door was open, so Yusuke stepped in cautiously.  
"'scuse me . . . uh, Mr. Tekeshi?" He asked, clearing his throat.  
The gruff, built man looked up.  
"Hm, Urameshi. Never expected to see you here today. What happened? You run out of kids to knock out?"  
Yusuke frowned, and he fought his anger.  
"Listen, I came here to ask you if there was any way that I could pass this class?" He said.  
Mr. Tekeshi let out a chuckle and leaned back in his chair.  
"No can do kid. You ain't been here but maybe twice out of the whole year, and that's including today. Plus, you got a little bit of an attitude that I don't really appreciate."  
Yusuke narrowed his eyes.  
"Yeah, and I don't really appreciate your breath, or the dumb way you try to act tough, so it's safe to say that we dislike each other, right?"  
He paused to gather his words, and he didn't wait for Mr. Tekeshi to let out his anger.  
"I need to pass this class, and I'll do just about anything if you'll please let me."  
The older man kept his angry expression for a few moments longer, but then he seemed to begin considering something. He sighed and eyed Yusuke curiously.  
"Anything?" He asked.  
Yusuke fidgeted at this question, but he nodded.  
Mr. Tekeshi bit his lip.  
"Then, I'll pass you if you do me a favor."  
Yusuke waited.  
"I heard that you were working after school with Ms. Yugumai, and well . . . I was wondering if you could find out if she's got a boyfriend or not." He said in a small voice that Yusuke wasn't used to hearing.  
The boy grinned.  
"Oh, so SOMEbody has a little crush do they?" Yusuke asked slyly.  
Mr. Tekeshi blushed, and Yusuke chuckled.  
"So let me get this straight. You'll pass me if I find out whether or not Ms. Yugumai is going out with anyone?"  
The man nodded sheepishly.  
"And one more thing Urameshi . . . could you find out her favorite kind of flowers if it turns out that she doesn't have a boyfriend?"  
Yusuke nodded.  
"Sure thing. A favor for a favor. Deal?" Yusuke stuck out his hand, and Mr. Tekeshi took it.  
They shook, and that was that. Yusuke left with a huge, silly grin on his face. 


	5. My Sweat Heart's Rival Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I . . . don't own Yu Yu Hakusho . . . seriously, I'm not that smart, or that lucky. I'm just obsessed with the characters, and I have a tendency to stalk them as well as offer sacrifices to . . . uh . . . perhaps I've said to much. Ya know what? Nevermind. I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, forget everything else I told you, okay? Okay. Eheh . . . ^_^,  
Author's Note: (Sighs) My oh me oh my! This chapter is short, and somewhat useless. Now, believe it or not, when I started writing this story, I fully intended upon making it go somewhere, but I seem to have forgotten what my initial main idea for the story was . . . eheh, so yeah, go figure. I'm sorry about this everyone. I'll finish this story, but it might take me a bit to rethink the plot and then make everything work, so if you would, bare with me. Man, I feel like an idiot, prolly 'cause I am, but anyway, read this and please enjoy. In the meantime I'll start trying to give this story a reason for being written. Thanks!  
Chapter: 5  
"All right Yusuke, this poem is by Edgar Allan Poe. It is called Annabel Lee. You take the first stanza and I will take the next, okay?"  
Ms. Yugumai cleared her throat and motioned for him to begin. Yusuke stared at the words on the pages in the book, and he sighed.  
"It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea . . ."  
The hour passed quickly, which surprised Yusuke. At first, he had merely read the poem in a lilting, sort of monotone, the picture of boredom. At this, Ms. Yugumai had stopped him. She had crossed her slender arms at the waist and eyed him. "Yusuke." She had said. "Literature is only boring if you make it that way. Loosen up, have some fun! You don't have to appreciate the words here, nor do you have to appreciate their author. The most important thing is to understand the words, and the author's point of view. Now then, how can you understand anything if you're reading like you just had a stroke, hm?"  
Yusuke had shrugged. He hadn't been aware that there was another way of reading. Ms. Yugumai had then read her stanza and, if he dared say, over acted it. However, because of this, he found himself compelled to listen to her. Eventually, he got into being over dramatic as well, and by the end of the hour, he realized that indeed, he'd enjoyed the session.  
Things worked out strangely sometimes he supposed. He'd wait till his next session with her to pry into her personal life, thereby guaranteeing his passing grade in gym class.  
He looked at the clock on the wall in the empty school hallway. It was 4:00. Keiko had said that she would meet him at 3:30 so they could go talk to the Math teacher. He sighed. Okay, so she was a little late, she was only human. He'd give her a few more minutes.  
Meanwhile, however, Keiko was elsewhere than school, frantic about something other than Yusuke.  
"Sakura, run these off, will you?" Keiko asked.  
She handed a bunch of papers to her friend who saluted her playfully and dashed off.  
Caitlin bounced up with a huge grin.  
"Erica and I are done. What now?"  
Keiko blinked.  
"All ready? You are?"  
The girl nodded enthusiastically.  
"Oh, um . . . Oh! I don't know!" She exclaimed, and she collapsed into a nearby chair.  
Her friends gathered around her, all worried. Keiko covered her eyes.  
"You guys, what am I going to do? Amissa has nearly half of the stupid class on her side!" She groaned.  
"Keiko, honey, look. If that stupid . . . bitch has half the class on her side, that can only mean that you have the other half." Said one.  
"The better half, I might add." Erica said.  
There were a number of excited agreements. Keiko gave her friends a weak looking smile. They were right. Most of the people who weren't on her side were just like Amissa. Amissa. She couldn't let that stupid girl get to her! After all, the school was HERS! It had been since the first day that she started attending. She was the most popular girl in school, and that had made her pretty happy. She wasn't used to competition, and that's why she had let all of Amissa's other attacks get to her. That wouldn't happen anymore . . . she hoped, for sometimes it was difficult for her to suppress her anger and its action.  
Keiko looked around at the many familiar faces. Yes, she would win, she had to. So, with a new light in her eyes, and a new confidence, Keiko clenched her fists.  
"You guys are right. How can I lose with all of you backing me up? Let's take that prissy slut down!"  
The girls cheered, and things started moving much faster. Before Keiko even knew it, hours had gone by and the sun was setting low in the sky. They had made progress in her little campaign. She didn't know what Amissa would come up with, but whatever it was, she'd top her no problem.  
Quite by chance, Keiko glanced over at the clock. She examined it, and discovered that it was 6:00. Her eyebrows knitted together in thought. There was something she was supposed to do, but for the life of her she couldn't remember-  
"Oh my God!"  
*******  
The phone rang at Yusuke's house several times before someone finally picked it up.  
"Hello?" Came a somewhat slurred greeting.  
"Uh, hi . . . Atsuko, is Yusuke there?" Keiko asked.  
There was a pause. Keiko imagined that Atsuko was trying to gain her composure enough to remember if her son was there or not. A minute later she heard the young mother call clumsily, her son's name. She heard footsteps, and muffled talking, and finally Yusuke's voice came on.  
"Yeah, what is it?" He asked.  
Keiko gulped.  
"Hey Yusuke." She said somewhat skittishly.  
There was another pause, only more brief that the previous.  
"Keiko. Hey."  
"God, Yusuke, I'm sorry for missing the meeting. I was caught up, and lost track of time, and all of this stuff happened and I--"  
"Hey, hey, settle down. It's okay Keiko. We'll try for tomorrow. Don't worry . . . really, it's not a big deal." Yusuke interrupted her frantic explanations.  
Keiko sighed. She still felt terrible. She couldn't believe that she had forgotten him! It was just unheard of, and it was all that stupid Amissa's fault!  
Keiko let her head fall back lightly against the wall in her bedroom. Stupid, stupid, stupid! She was the one always telling Yusuke how important it was to get good grades and be at school, and there she was forgetting all about their appointment. She frowned.  
'Way to contradict yourself Keiko.' She scoffed to herself.  
"Oh, well, Yusuke, let's get together right now and work on your report we only have three more days."  
Yusuke sighed.  
"Sure, okay. Where do you wanna meet?"  
She thought about this for a moment. Outside, it was already beginning to get dark, and they needed a place where it wasn't cramped, and stuffy, but open, and still well lit. She smiled when the answer came to her.  
"The park, in 15." She said.  
Yusuke complied, and 15 minutes later they met up outside of the park and walked to a bench that over-looked the shimmering lake. Yusuke got out the notebook and pen, and he took out his books and other various notes, including those that Kurama had scrounged up for him. Keiko took out a three ring binder with tons of lined paper and a pencil. Directly behind them was a glowing park lamp.  
"So, what do you have?" She asked, looking at Yusuke.  
He shrugged, handing her the notebook.  
"Here, take a look for yourself."  
Keiko received the offered and scanned the messy writing. Her trained eyes expertly highlighted the most important facts. When this was done, she gave the notebook back to Yusuke, who looked at her with expectant eyes.  
"So what now?" He questioned.  
She gave him the binder and pencil.  
"Now, we string all of this stuff together." She replied.  
He frowned as he took the binder and pencil.  
"Why do I have to write it?"  
Keiko rolled her eyes.  
"Reason #1: It's YOUR report, and Reason #2: My wrist is broken."  
He grinned.  
"Sorry. I forgot about that."  
Keiko merely shrugged. She had too. For many it's hard not to notice that you have a cast weighing down your arm, but for Keiko it was as though it wasn't even there, or at least, it had been. Her wrist was aching now because of the excessive work she'd done with it: making posters, phone calls, speeches. All of it had involved the use of her right hand, thereby obligating her injured wrist. She apologized to the poor body part mentally, and that seemed to help, because she noticed that right afterwards, the ache had lessened in strength.  
"Keiko?" Yusuke asked.  
His voice invaded her thoughts, yanking her back to the present task at hand. She smiled at him.  
"Hm?"  
"What do I start with?"  
She thought a moment.  
"Mythology. It's a fascinating opening, likely to catch the reader's attention."  
Yusuke sighed, but he nodded. He had the words in his head, but often times he couldn't get them on paper.  
Meanwhile, Keiko collapsed back into her own fury of thoughts. Amissa. How could she beat Amissa? The blonde girl probably had a very good campaign for herself going. Keiko did to though. She hadn't planned on having anyone run against her for the position of the dance coordinator. Very few people ever ran against her. She supposed it had been somewhat of a lost cause, for she had had about 97% of her class on her side. But things were different now. Amissa had made herself very popular, very quickly. Amissa was intelligent, and pretty, although, Keiko had the better attitude toward things.  
She sighed. Tomorrow she would begin hanging up posters and then the student counsel would host an assembly where both she and Amissa would speeches to attempt to sway the voters. Yes, she'd beat her . . . she needed to. 


	6. My Sweet Heart's Rival Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Me: (Clears throat) Ehem . . . ladies and gentlemen, I would like to stress to you the fact that I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or Shakespeare. Unfortunately, Yoshihiro Togashi could not be here, but for your information and entertainment, we have Shakespeare here to sing you a little number he wrote, Mr. Shakespeare. (Disappears back stage)  
  
Shakespeare: (Clears throat) (Singing) Ooooooooo . . . (dramatic pause) Theeeeere, was a farmer had a dog and Bingo was his name-o, B-I-N-G-O, B-I- N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O and Bingo wa-  
  
Me: (Runs out on stage waving arms) STOP! STOP! What do you think you're doing!?  
  
Shakespeare: (In bad English accent) What in heaven's name do you mean?  
  
Me: (Sweat drops) You're SUPPOSED to be singing a song you wrote about how I don't own Shakespeare or Yu Yu Hakusho!  
  
Shakespeare: (Puts hand on hip drops accent) That I wrote? Pa-lease, I don't get paid enough for THAT. (Walks off )  
  
Me: (Blinks) (Sighs) I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or Shakespeare . . . and that's the LAST time I try and get a celebrity!  
  
Author's Note: Hello everyone! I guess I got carried away with that disclaimer, huh? Well sorry, It's been a stressful day ^_^, Anyway, sorry this chapter has taken so long, but I just now thought up an idea to finish the story with and yeah, well, read and enjoy and I'll try to update faster. Thanks! ^_^  
  
Chapter: 6  
  
"Sweet, so would I:  
  
Yet I should kill thee with much cherishing.  
  
Good night, good night! parting is such  
  
sweet sorrow,  
  
That I shall say good night till it be morrow."  
  
"Sleep dwell upon thine eyes, peace in thy breast!  
  
Would I were sleep and peace, so sweet to rest!  
  
Hence will I to my ghostly father's cell,  
  
His help to crave, and my dear hap to tell." Quoted Yusuke.  
  
Ms. Yugumai smiled as she set her book on her desk, and Yusuke followed her example.  
  
"Bravo Yusuke, bravo! That was very good, your expression, in all aspects, is improving rapidly. I'm very proud of you."  
  
Yusuke shrugged, attempting to look like her words meant nothing to him, but he couldn't help but smile. He, Yusuke Urameshi reading Shakespeare? C'mon, who ever would have seen THAT coming?  
  
"So . . . um . . . what happens now?" Yusuke asked on an impulse.  
  
The woman eyed him fondly.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"In the play."  
  
She smiled softly.  
  
"Oh, I see. Well, at this point Romeo will seek out Friar Laurence with the intention of asking him to marry him to Juliet."  
  
"Oh, but what about Rosiline?"  
  
Ms. Yugumai shrugged.  
  
"Rosiline who? She can't hold a candle to Juliet, at least not in Romeo's eyes." She said.  
  
"Well anyway, we'll pick up where we left off tomorrow, same time, same place. Your hours up, you're excused."  
  
Yusuke nodded. He needed to ask her if she was involved with anyone else, but how to approach the subject. He glanced at the clock. He didn't have a lot of time, for he was supposed to meet Keiko soon. Yusuke took a deep breath and cleared his throat.  
  
"Um . . . Ms. Yugumai."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"What do you think about Keiko and I?" He asked.  
  
Ms. Yugumai stared at him for a moment, her dark eyes calculating such a strange question. After a moment she walked around to her desk and sat down. In her hands she picked up one of her favored pens and began fiddling with it unconsciously. Yusuke noticed that it was one of her many little habits. She always had to have her hands moving, always busy. She cleared her throat and brushed a few strands of glossy, wavy, black hair behind her ear.  
  
"Yusuke, I think you two are a match made in heaven." She said.  
  
Yusuke grinned. Well that was nice to know. He tried to look nonchalant then.  
  
"Is that so? Well, me too . . . but what about you?"  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
He leaned close to her.  
  
"Well you're a really pretty woman . . . don't you have anyone . . . you know, SPECIAL in your life?"  
  
Ms. Yugumai's eyes got wider, and she fumbled with her pen, dropping it on the floor.  
  
"W . . . uh, I don't . . . Yusuke that's not . . . I thi--" She stuttered.  
  
Yusuke hid a grin. Very few times had he gotten to see a teacher at a loss for words. It made him happy! He waited patiently for the poor woman to get her thoughts and her words in order.  
  
She cleared her throat nervously. "I don't think that that is an appropriate question for a teacher to be asking her student." She said.  
  
Yusuke pointed at the clock. "Technically, I'm only your student during school hours. It's past school hours, and you all ready dismissed me from the study session anyway." He reasoned, that victorious grin still on his face. He knew she couldn't argue that point.  
  
"Yusuke--" She sounded unsure and hesitant.  
  
"C'mon just think of me as one of your . . . your girlfriends!"  
  
"Yusuke!" This time her exclamation sounded astonished, and somewhat taken aback.  
  
But Yusuke was ever persistent. He sat on the side of her desk and crossed his legs, one arm supporting his weight, the other draped across his thigh in a very effeminate manner.  
  
"C'mon girlfriend, talk to me." He said, using his best female voice impersonation.  
  
Ms. Yugumai sighed, and then giggled.  
  
Yusuke grinned. "Like, Ohhhh my God! I KNOW you're not keeping secrets from."  
  
Her giggled turned into laughter, which she tried to muffle with a hand, but was rather unsuccessful in doing so. This only spurred Yusuke's act.  
  
"Like, what do you use on your hair, 'cause it looks sooo unbelievably hot! What's your secret?" He said this and jumped from his perch to walk over to her. He grabbed her hand, but she could not resist as her body was raked with laughter.  
  
"And your nails, they look professionally done. Girl, you make me look totally bad! Seriously, I'm gunna have to lose some weight or somethin' ' cause there is no way I could ever fit into what you got on honey!"  
  
Tears were actually rolling out of her eyes at her student's antics, for Yusuke acting like a teenage girl was not something she had fathomed in the wildest parts of her imagination.  
  
"All right, Yusuke, all right, you win, I'll tell you!" She exclaimed through her laughing fits.  
  
Yusuke smiled proudly. He should think of acting as a career. He waited again while Ms. Yugumai reclaimed her usual calm. She cleared her throat, looking very business like, yet the corners of her lips would twitch up every now and then in the barest hints of a smile. She reclaimed her pen from the floor and continued her play.  
  
"Okay, I'm going to tell you, but you MUST promise me that you'll keep this information confidential from your fellow classmates."  
  
Yusuke nodded. He could promise that easily. He didn't even LIKE them, let alone TALK to them.  
  
She took a deep breath. "Currently, I do not have anyone 'special' in my life. I did till about one month ago when I found him cheating on me with a woman from his office."  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry." He said.  
  
She shrugged. "It was for the better anyway. Oh, but it would be nice to have someone in my life again. I will admit that I miss the times when he would surprise me with flowers or something like it. Granted, he always managed to get me lilacs, which I tend to be allergic too."  
  
"Flowers, huh? Well, what are your favorite flowers?" Yusuke asked, passing the question off as simple, curiosity.  
  
Ms. Yugumai smiled softly. "Daisies, lovely white daisies." She replied.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Rays of sunlight poured through the window, making a portion of the dull school hallway golden. The clock on the wall ticked away the seconds, and all Yusuke could do was watch. He felt helpless, and bored. It wasn't long before the ticking turned into strange little tunes in his head. He sighed. Keiko was supposed to show up 20 minutes prior, but such was not the case. She was late . . . again, and he had yet to speak with his Math teacher. His teacher didn't like him that much, and he really needed Keiko if he was going to compromise anything. He'd wait a little longer. Maybe she was caught up in something important . . . maybe . . .  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Keiko, what about these, do these go up too?"  
  
Keiko spun around to meet her friend and looked at the posters. "Uh, sure, put 'em up."  
  
She turned then, intent on leaving, but another person called for her.  
  
"Keiko! Keiko, telephone!"  
  
She sighed. "Take it for me, I'm late, and I have to go."  
  
Her friend peered over at her, and she shook her head. "No, I think you should take this call."  
  
Keiko tilted her head, taking a few moments to read her friend's expression before deciding that the phone call was important. She sighed, set down her bag, and took the phone from the other girl's hand.  
  
"Hello? Yes . . . uh-huh . . . no, uh . . . wait . . . she WHAT!?" Keiko exclaimed.  
  
Everyone stopped what they were doing to see what the outburst was all about. Keiko had wide eyes and a frown marring her features.  
  
"Fine, thank you." She said, and with that, slammed the phone down on the hook. "Okay people, it's a WHOLE new ball game now. Amissa has managed to make this thing an entire school vote, which means, it's not just our class, but all the lower ones too. We need to think up some new plans and fast . . . who knows what she'll have up her sleeve next."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
He yawned. 10 more minutes, he'd give her 10 more minutes and that would be that and he'd go home. He didn't understand why she was late, but he was pretty sure it was very important; anyway, Keiko would never forget him. He glanced down the hall a little ways and saw that the Math teacher's door was still open. He supposed he was lucky that the guy liked to work late. His thought traveled back to Ms. Yugumai and Mr. Takeshi. Comparing the two at first, it would seem like she was way out of Takeshi's league, but Ms. Yugumai liked romance and she could easily detect kindness in a person. Mr. Takeshi acted tough, but he was like a teddy bear on the inside, much like Yusuke himself, only cheesier and probably more lovesick. Yusuke imagined that if Mr. Takeshi could have his inner self-put in to spirit beast form, then he would come up with something a lot like Puu. All in all though, with his help, he was pretty sure that the two teachers could hook up, stranger things had happened . . . stranger things ALWAYS happened in his life. Yusuke was very enamored in his thoughts and so when a voice broke through them he couldn't help but start.  
  
"Hi there."  
  
Yusuke jumped. "Ah! What? What is it?" He asked frantically.  
  
The voice giggled girlishly. He looked up and, to his utter surprise, found himself staring straight into the blue eyes of Amissa. Her smile was sugary sweet, and quite frankly, made Yusuke a little sick. He hated artificial people. He composed himself though.  
  
"Yeah, hi." He replied, eyeing her dully.  
  
"You're Yusuke Urameshi right? The big, bad Urameshi? The one who at his whistle can summon 1,000 creeps with chains and knives Urameshi?" She asked, her voice sarcastic and teasing.  
  
Yusuke shrugged. "One and the same." He replied. Amissa's smiled played on.  
  
"I remember you from when we were little."  
  
"Lucky me."  
  
"You always played with Keiko. I've seen you two together a lot, and word has it that you're going out. Is that true?"  
  
Yusuke shrugged and rolled his eyes in the opposite direction.  
  
"I'll take that as a yes, hm . . . I said that I've SEEN you together a lot, but that hasn't been the case lately. Trouble in the relationship?"  
  
Yusuke sighed. "Listen, it's not really your business what happens between Keiko and I, same as it isn't any of my business with what goes on between Keiko and you. Honestly, I've never had anything against you, but you DID break her wrist, and that wasn't cool, but like I said, it has nothin' to do with me, so why don't you just go on your merry way and leave me alone, okay?"  
  
Amissa shook her head, platinum hair swaying like strands of fine silk. "All right, all right, no need to get excited, but ya know, I've never had anything against you either, Yusuke. And . . . I was surprised when I saw you after all those years, I mean . . . you're really good looking now."  
  
Yusuke shifted his weight nervously. "Uh . . ."  
  
"You know why Keiko isn't here, don't you? She's working on her campaign in an attempt to beat me . . . tsk, tsk . . . what kind of friend, or girlfriend alike would forget about the one she cared about just to try and win a silly contest. It seems to me like you're the last thing on her mind right now . . . but then, it's really none of my business, is it? Well, I'd better be off. Later Yusuke." And with that Amissa turned on her heel and glided off leaving a confused, somewhat dazed Yusuke staring after her.  
  
Yusuke watched her until he could no longer see her, and then some. He watched empty air for several minutes before he gently shaking his head. He would wait for Keiko, and he did for another half hour. A half hour and then he heard the door to the Math room close and lock, and he heard the retreating footsteps of the teacher. He rose slowly to his feet and carried himself to the school exit. The sky was gray and the air was still and thunder rumbled off in the distance. He had a feeling that he would not see Keiko tonight . . .  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Yes Kaasan, no I'm fine. I heated up last night's leftovers. Right see you in two days. Yes, I love you too, bye."  
  
Kurama hung up the phone and stretched. His Kaasan, stepfather, and younger stepbrother were away visiting his new relatives. He'd been asked to come with them, but he had declined saying that he had finals coming up and that he needed to begin studying. He didn't really need to, but he wasn't comfortable around his new relatives. He'd met them once and had the distinct impression that they disapproved of him somehow. He sighed and shook his head.  
  
Outside it had started raining which was a positive thing, as his plants had been feeling rather dry lately. Thunder roiled against a dark, slate gray sky, and lightning, although contained in the huge clouds, flickered dimly. Kurama enjoyed storms; he always had, even as a youko back in the Makai. Maybe it was their power, or their wild, uncontained beauty, or maybe he just felt a strange sort of kinship toward them, but whatever the case, he liked them.  
  
He had no homework to speak of having finished it all in class and that was good because on stormy nights he loved to spend his time reading. Some kids plopped down on the couch for a good few hours of mind rotting vegetating, and others would get on the net and surf and chat with their friends, but Kurama read.  
  
He went upstairs to his room and threw on his comfy, gray sweat pants and an old white t-shirt. He scanned the books on his shelf, both old and new, chose a few that sounded good and laid them in a stack on top of his bed. He went downstairs and made himself a bowl of popcorn, and then headed back up to the lovely privacy of his room, settled himself onto his bed, grabbed a book and started reading. It was a thriller, full of suspense, and every time something happened he'd gasp or jump, and once he choked on his popcorn. It was funny. He could face the worst, most demented, evil demons in the three worlds and not flinch once, but if you gave him a book to catch his interest, he could fall right out of bed . . . he'd done that before. It had been an awful mess to clean up, and he was just lucky that his soda and the grease from the popcorn hadn't left a stain.  
  
This book was no exception to any other books that he had read in the past, and so when a particularly loud clap of thunder roared outside, accompanied by a timely knock on the door downstairs, Kurama jumped, and ended up tossing the book clear across the room. He stared at it lying on the floor for a few moments before regaining his wits enough to get up to pick it up. At that time he remembered the door and sprinted down the stairs to answer it. The rain was blowing hard and he could hear it beating savagely against the door. He took a deep breath, just for good measure and opened the door, somewhat shocked to find a very damp Yusuke on the other side.  
  
"Yusuke? What . . ." He started, but Yusuke looked up at him, and his eyes lacked a certain light that was always present. Kurama stepped aside and ushered him in. He took him to the kitchen and set him down in one of the chairs. "Be right back." He said, and disappeared, returning moments later with towel which he threw to his friend.  
  
Yusuke accepted the fluffy white towel and dried himself off to the best of his ability. Kurama made some tea and pushed a steaming cup toward him, then the fox sat down in a chair across from him.  
  
"Yusuke, what're you doing out in weather like this?" He asked.  
  
Yusuke shrugged. "I need your help." He said.  
  
Kurama raised his elegant eyebrows at this. "Of coarse, with what?"  
  
The dark haired boy reached into his bag and pulled out the notebook, pencil, and binder and presented them on the table for Kurama to see.  
  
"This is my report Kurama. I need help with it."  
  
Kurama stared at the collective items. "But I thought--"  
  
"I need YOUR help with it." Yusuke interrupted his question.  
  
Kurama looked up at him sharply, reading his face, digesting Yusuke's words, and then nodded. "Sure. I'll help."  
  
"Thanks. I need to get it done soon. I'd like to have it out of the way so I can worry about compromising with my Math teacher."  
  
Kurama nodded slowly as he looked over the report and what had been done so far. "Math teacher. Is his name Koji Sakoji?"  
  
"Yeah, how'd you know?"  
  
"He used to teach at the middle school I went too. My mother and I are pretty good friend's with him. If you'd like, I could help you talk to him." Kurama offered.  
  
Yusuke bit his lip almost as if hesitating, but then nodded. "Yeah, that'd be great, thanks . . . Kurama. 


	7. My Sweet Heart's Rival Chapter7

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho . . . just believe me. If I owned the show I'd make way more episodes and do a whole bunch of other neato stuff, but I don't, so don't waste your time and my time attempting to sue me. I'm poor okay? Good, glad we've established that. Okay, continue!  
  
Author's Note: Hey again. Well, I'm trying to wind this story down and finish it up, so I'm sorry that this chapter is so short. I keep trying to keep my plot straight and for whatever reason I'm having trouble. I think I'm either stressed, tired, hungry, or just excited that school is almost out . . . knowing myself as well as I tend to, I'd say it's a lovely combination of all of them. Well anyway, read this and I promise I'll try and finish this story up in a timely manner, okay? Great. Thanks! ^_^  
  
Chapter: 7  
  
The halls were crowded during passing time, as usual. Yusuke hated crowded halls. He sighed as he adjusted the books in his arms to get a better grip. He was content enough, a little dazed still, but content. He understood Keiko's desire to beat Amissa in the campaign, but Keiko had obligated her time to him, and like he had never broken a promise to her, Yusuke could not remember a time prior to the present that she had broken one to him. He was a little . . . confused, but at least he could gratify himself in saying that he had passed gym class. Yes, he'd told Mr. Takeshi everything he needed to know, and even gave him a few ideas on how to sweep Ms. Yugumai off her feet.  
  
He sighed. Kurama was scheduled to meet with him after school, and the fox had indeed assisted him in finishing his report. Kurama was going to have it proofread by his teacher, and then visit the college and get it double- checked there too. After that they could begin the final draft. Yusuke, ever resistant, was determined to keep his promise to Keiko.  
  
He yawned and stopped to look at two large posters on the wall. One was of Amissa with her sugary sweet smile, and the other of Keiko with her fiery, resilient eyes and determined smile. He shook his head. He hoped that Keiko would win; he thought that she deserved it, and if she did, he'd be at the dance that she worked so hard to set up . . . yet another promise he made to himself.  
  
The last few hours of a slow day passed by at a moderate pace for Yusuke. He was tired, and he wasn't sure if it was 'sleepy' tired or 'heart' tired . . . he was just . . . tired. He got out of class and went to Ms. Yugumai's as per the usual.  
  
"Hey Ms. Yugumai." He greeted. He smiled a small smile as he saw a beautiful vase with a generous mass of large, white daisies arranged nicely on her desk.  
  
Ms. Yugumai looked up with a sweet, happier than usual smile, but this only lasted for a few moments. Her expression suddenly altered into one of concern and of question. She stood up and walked gracefully toward him. Yusuke eyed her curiously.  
  
"What?" He asked.  
  
She said nothing, but rather placed the back of her hand on his for-head and frowned. "Yusuke, perhaps you should go home." She said, taking a step back.  
  
"Go home? Why? What about--"  
  
She shook her head. "You look pale, and I think you have a bit of a fever."  
  
"But I have to pass this course." He argued.  
  
"Oh Yusuke, you've made so much progress in the past few days, I'd pass you tomorrow if need be. There is no use in being here. You simply don't look well."  
  
Yusuke frowned. He didn't look well? He felt okay . . . maybe he felt okay . . . he wasn't sure. Actually, he felt sort of numb, almost as if something were missing, but he just couldn't put his finger on what it was. He felt so light that the breeze could knock him over, but yet so heavy that he could leave his indent in the ground when he hit it. Maybe she was right.  
  
"Yeah, I guess . . . uh, thanks I'll see you later." He said and started to leave.  
  
"Yusuke," started his teacher's voice. He turned to look at her over his shoulder. She smiled easily and nodded toward the flowers. "Thank you." He smiled back at her and left the room.  
  
He had an hour until he could meet Kurama, so to kill time and do some serious thinking Yusuke retreated up to the roof. He laid down on the hard, but comfortable surface and closed his eyes. Numb, he felt numb, he felt heavy, he felt light, he felt exhausted, and now that someone had brought it up, Yusuke felt a little queasy too. If he was sick it was do to his little walk in the rain the previous night, but all the other awkward feelings were do to . . . to what? One word - Keiko - that's all it was. Something about being forgotten by the one person in his life who had always remembered unsettled him. The one person he had counted on to be consummately there for him was not, and that seemed to throw him through a weird, hazy loop. Granted, he had always told her that he wished she would just leave him alone, but he hadn't meant it, and he was sure that she knew that. Actually, he was still quite positive that she knew that, the only difference now was that she had forgotten him . . . he wasn't on her list of top priorities right now, but he had been for the longest time before, so she was entitled to forget him . . . she was, but it made him feel . . . tired, and contradicting, and numb. He yawned. Tired . . . contradicting, and . . . and numb. And at that moment Yusuke feel victim to a catnap.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Yusuke."  
  
Yusuke heard his name being summoned from somewhere beyond the darkness. The voice was soft and tenor and familiar. He floated towards it, carried atop waves of black silk in an ocean of hazy half consciousness. And then, the darkness was gone and bright, painful light, cut through his vision as his eyes fluttered open. He groaned.  
  
"Damn it." He mumbled, putting a hand in front of his eyes. He sat up and shook his head to try and clear some of the sleep away. He remembered the voice and its familiarity and looked for its owner. He found him sitting off to his side. "Oh hey Kurama." He greeted somewhat sourly.  
  
The youko turned human smiled easily. "Nice nap?" He asked.  
  
Yusuke rolled his eyes and stretched. Actually, the nap HAD been nice, but sleeping on cement probably was something he'd try and avoid from that point on. He cracked his neck and stretched, trying to rub and work out the kinks and soreness in his body. "So what are you doing here?" He asked Kurama who was waiting patiently.  
  
"I'm here to help you talk to Mr. Sakoji, remember?"  
  
"Oh yeah, did I sleep through that?"  
  
"No, we can still catch him if we hurry." Kurama said and he climbed to his feet. He extended his slender hand out to Yusuke who took it, grateful for the help. He was pulled to his feet and forced to ignore the fact that his bones popped in several places in protest of the sudden movement.  
  
The two boys made their way down to Mr. Sakoji's room and knocked lightly on the open door. The math teacher, a stern looking, set in his ways type of guy, looked up sharply from his work of grading papers. His frown turned to a sort of smile when he saw Kurama standing there, and then to a deep frown when he saw Yusuke standing next to him. Yusuke frowned back at him. Sakoji cleared his throat.  
  
"Shuuichi, please, come in." He invited. He stood up and greeted Kurama with a handshake. "So then what can I help you with today?" He asked.  
  
Kurama smiled. "Well . . ."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Well THAT could have gone better." Kurama said, glaring over at Yusuke.  
  
Yusuke looked back at him and rolled his eyes. "What? We got the deal didn't we? I mean, I get to pass."  
  
"Thanks to who again?"  
  
"Aw, I coulda done it myself." Yusuke said in a teasing manner.  
  
Kurama eyed him harshly. "Indeed. You're just lucky that he didn't take your skin off with that ruler."  
  
"I don't know why he got so upset."  
  
The fox sighed. "Yusuke, when you ask for favors from someone who all READY does not like you, it is usually NOT a good idea to say, and I quote, 'Woah, that's your WIFE? I thought she was like . . . your Grandmother or something, hey maybe you should tell her to seriously consider a face lift and some lipo, ya know?'"  
  
Yusuke chuckled. "It was just a suggestion, he didn't have to go all crazy mad on me. I mean, it's a good thing you were there to pacify everything."  
  
"Luck Yusuke, your life runs on luck." Kurama said dryly, and let out a sigh. If he were still the demon he once was, he probably would have killed Yusuke a LONG time ago, but seeing as how he wasn't, all he could do was see the humorous side of it . . . and with Yusuke, humor was kind of hard to miss. 


	8. My Sweet Heart's Rival Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Guess what? I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho. Really, I don't, so please don't attempt to sue me, I mean, c'mon, I don't go around suing YOU, so please return the favor, okay? Aw, you're sweet! Okay, later!  
  
Author's Note: Hey everyone. Well here's Chapter 8, and I'm seriously hoping to finish this story soon, ya know? Um . . . this chapter is supposed to help lead up to the end, but well, I dunno, I'm still trying to paste all these chapters together so they can create a conclusion. ^_^, Eheh, I'm not sure how great I'm doing with that so you guys are gunna have to tell me what ya think. Well anyway, you didn't come here to read my A/N gibberish! You came here to read my Yu Yu Hakusho gibberish! Okay, well, onward worthy readers and thanks for hangin' in there with me!  
  
Chapter: 8  
  
Yusuke hit the key hard in a gesture of finality. He grinned up at Kurama who stood looking over his shoulder, also smiling.  
  
"And that's that, we're done." Yusuke said. He got up from his chair and let Kurama slide in. The fox went up to one of the menus and hit 'print'. The printer next to the computer started making a clatter as it readied itself to work. Then Kurama turned to Yusuke who looked back at him slightly wary. He raised an eyebrow at his dark-haired friend.  
  
Yusuke bit his lip. "Kurama, you're absolutely POSTIVE that there aren't any errors?" He asked.  
  
Kurama shrugged. "Yusuke it's been proof-read a dozen times by professionals. If there are any mistakes, I can guarantee you that none of them are so distinct that your junior high science teacher will catch them." He reasoned.  
  
Yusuke nodded. "Guess you're right."  
  
At about that time the printer spat out the last page of the infamous report. Kurama took them into his hands, handling them as though they were delicate sheets of fine crystal. He walked to the other side of the room and picked up some transparent paper protectors. Kurama slipped each vital piece of paper into a protector and when he was finished he hooked them into a black, three ring binder, then he handed it to Yusuke who took it and hugged it to his chest as though he were a child who had just gotten his favorite teddy bear back. Kurama waited then while Yusuke got over his intimate moment and put it in his bag.  
  
"So now what?" Yusuke asked.  
  
Kurama shrugged. "I don't know if anything should be next Yusuke, you look sort of pale."  
  
The Tantai rolled his chocolate eyes. "God, not that again. C'mon, I feel fine, in fact, I feel GREAT. I mean I just finished that stupid report and I'm excited, and I want to celebrate, so come on! Let's get Kuwabara and go out." Yusuke said this and obviously wasn't kidding because he snatched Kurama's wrist and literally pulled if not dragged him out of the room.  
  
"Ah! Yusuke, Yusuke, okay, okay, I'm coming!" Kurama said, trying desperately to recover and match his friend's strangely rapid pace.  
  
They made their way all the way to Kuwabara's house, and he seemed more than willing to come with them. They didn't even have to knock before Kuwabara came sprinting out of the house, yelling good-bye to his sister who they heard yelling in the background.  
  
Kurama and Yusuke raised curious eyebrows at their friend who seemed anxious to get as far away from his house as humanly possible. Of coarse, that would mean going to either Reikai or Makai, and that wasn't worth the trip, so they settled for the arcade, where Kuwabara lost a racing game terribly to Yusuke, who later lost a game miserably to Kurama. After their depressing defeats, Yusuke and Kuwabara decided it was time to leave the arcade and go get some food. So the friends made their leave of the noisy place for the slightly more peaceful atmosphere of an outside restaurant. A Hamburger and french-fries was the collective order for the group, and since the waitress not only knew Kurama, but had a major crush on him, they got their food free.  
  
"Man Kurama, do you usually free stuff?" Asked Kuwabara.  
  
Kurama shrugged. "Sure, all around town." He answered easily and took a sip of his pop.  
  
Kuwabara saw an opening in his friend's statement. "All around town, huh? So I take it the ladies aren't the ONLY ones who give you attention." He said slyly.  
  
Kurama suddenly choked on his drink and started coughing at Kuwabara's comment. A blush adorned his cheeks, and it took him a few moments to recover, in which Kuwabara and Yusuke laughed. After that Kurama decided that a swift change of subject was far past due.  
  
"So tell me Kuwabara. What was Shizuru so upset about?" He asked.  
  
Kuwabara's happy face fell to one of annoyance and he rolled his eyes. "I dunno man. Every month around this time she just gets really bitchy. I don't know why but it's really annoying!" He said and then bit into his hamburger savagely. Yusuke and Kurama exchanged looks and Kurama shook his head, trying to hide his smile. Yusuke wasn't so gracious, and he started to chuckle. "Kuwabara, you ARE an idiot." He said.  
  
Kuwabara blinked. He was confused. "What? What's so funny? Hey you better stop laughing Urameshi or I'm gunna pound your face in." He threatened.  
  
Yusuke laughed harder. "I'd like to see you do that Kuwabara." He said.  
  
Kuwabara frowned and looked to Kurama who wasn't hiding his smile anymore. "Kurama, what do you guys know that you aren't telling me?" He asked.  
  
Kurama bit his lip and looked at Yusuke who gave him the go ahead to tell Kuwabara. Kurama shrugged and leaned over the table. He whispered into Kuwabara's ear and the boy nodded, nothing truly registering in his mind. When the youko turned human sat back down he looked at Yusuke.  
  
"Wow, he took it pretty well." Kurama said. Yusuke nodded in agreement.  
  
Kuwabara shrugged. "Well, sure, there's nothing abnormal about my sister having her . . . wait . . . WHAT!? EWWW! GROSS! WHY'D YOU TELL ME THAT!? EW, EW, EW, I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'D TELL ME THAT ABOUT MY OWN SISTER!" He exclaimed. Several people started staring.  
  
Yusuke started laughing again, and Kurama raised an eyebrow. "Oops, spoke to soon." He mumbled.  
  
"Man, you really WEREN'T listening in Health class were you Kuwabara?" Yusuke said through his laughter.  
  
Kurama noticed the very annoyed looks of the other customers. "Kuwabara sit down, please. It's really not that big of a deal. Every female does it." He said, trying to persuade his friend to relax. It took a few more words, but eventually the boy sat down and Yusuke ceased laughing. Kurama decided that yet ANOTHER swift subject change was past due. He cleared his throat to speak, but Kuwabara, also thinking they should change the topic, beat him to it.  
  
"So Urameshi, where's Keiko?" He asked absently.  
  
Yusuke looked up sharply at his friend. His cheery expression melted away and his features became tired and his eyes lost their incandesce twinkle that everyone had become so accustomed to seeing. It was disturbing. He looked down then at his almost empty plate.  
  
"Keiko . . . she's busy." He answered quietly.  
  
Kuwabara raised an eyebrow at Kurama, looking to him for an answer, but the fox did not have one and he communicated this by shaking his head. Kuwabara searched for an answer himself, but found nothing, so he chose to cheer his friend up instead.  
  
"Oh well, we can have fun without her, right Kurama?" He said happily.  
  
"Of coarse we can." He agreed.  
  
Kuwabara stood up. "Yeah, we'll finish up here and then us guys 'ell go to an action packed, manly, bloody, gory, movie!"  
  
Yusuke looked up. He didn't feel like doing anything. He actually hadn't from the very start, but he needed a distraction and until just recently he had been adequately provided with one. He nodded to Kuwabara. He didn't want to think about things that hurt right now . . .  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The night ended four hours later, and all the boys went to their respective houses. Yusuke was tired, exhausted really. He went home to find that his Mother was gone on one of her little outings, but that was nothing unusual. In fact, had she been home Yusuke might have been frightened.  
  
He yawned and went to his room, closing the door behind him. He undressed quickly, sliding into his pajamas. He frowned at them for a moment. They were green with little teddy bears wearing nightcaps on them. His mother had picked them out for him for his birthday, so he couldn't very well return them or reject them without a huge guilt trip. He sighed. Well, they were comfortable anyway. He shrugged and crawled onto his bed. The sheets were cool and the blankets warm and welcoming. He felt much better lying down, on the verge of sleep. His eyes closed half way and he watched hazily out his window. The sky was a lighter shade of black because of the city lights, but the stars were still visible, twinkling, laughing, frolicking, and watching. Their father, the silver moon smiled down at him, offering him his ages of kind wisdom, and it was to this lovely image that Yusuke fell asleep.  
  
He fell asleep and he dreamt that he was standing in a vast field of golden, tall grass under a purple Makai sky. The wind blew softly and he could sense surrounding youkai, but they did not attack him, they merely surrounded him, walking, crawling, flying, whatever, and ignored his presence. And Yusuke couldn't move his feet. It was as though he were bolted to the ground, but no one cared, or noticed, no one spoke to or even looked at him. They just walked around him, avoiding him all together and then, she appeared in the swarming waves of demons. Keiko. She had her hand extended out to him and a smiling face as she approached him. Yusuke gently put his hand in hers. Suddenly, a sort of electricity omitted between them and Keiko jerked her hand back from his. She cradled it to her bosom and glared at Yusuke.  
  
"Keiko, I--" He started, but he couldn't hear his voice, he couldn't feel his lips moving, or his tongue forming the words. He could not speak, only watch as Keiko extended her hand once more, this time urging him to look at her singed, cut, and bloody palm. Yusuke tried to say something . . . anything, but there was nothing. Abruptly, Keiko slapped him hard against the face, leaving a steak of her blood smeared across his cheek then she turned and began walking away, slowly melting in to the crowd, slowly leaving him, and all he could do was stare and watch with wide eyes and a pained heart.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Okay people, today is the day that everyone has been waiting for. That's right, today we find out who won the campaign for the coordinator of the end of the year dance. Cast your votes and by the end of the day we'll have them tallied out. Teachers, if you would please excuse your classes to do so at this time, thank you." Said the voice over the intercom in all the classrooms.  
  
Every teacher dismissed their classes and all of the students filed in to the cafeteria where the voting was to take place. It was noisy and crowded, but Keiko drank every bit of it. Oh how she hoped that most of those ballots held a check next to her name. She looked around for Amissa and found the blonde girl standing off to the side, seemingly in the same state of hopefulness. Keiko gently fingered her injured wrist. It was healing nicely, but she wouldn't even have to worry about how well it healed had it not been for the latter girl. She narrowed her honey colored eyes. If she could win this then she wouldn't be forced to seriously injure her dearest rival.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Yusuke sighed as the announcement came on. He would have to go down and vote, he knew Kuwabara was. He waited though until every student had left the classroom before approaching his science teacher. The man had his head down, deeply buried in paper work, so Yusuke cleared his throat casually to try and catch his attention. Mr. Shou looked up and frowned.  
  
"Ah, Mr. Urameshi. What? Here to give me a lame excuse as to why you don't have that report I was promised?" He asked, leaning back in his chair.  
  
Yusuke smirked and pulled out the binder. He laid it on the man's desk. Mr. Shou eyed it and then Yusuke.  
  
"Hm, so you got it here, but we'll see if it's worth a passing grade Urameshi. I expect you to be here after this whole voting thing is through with, understand?" He asked.  
  
Yusuke shrugged. It could have meant yes, it could have meant no, but it didn't matter, because Yusuke knew that he would be back. He had to keep his promise to Keiko. So he made his way to the cafeteria. He saw Kuwabara in line for the voting and knew that his friend would indeed vote for Keiko. Briefly, he wondered how many would. He scanned the room more thoroughly. His eyes fell on Keiko. She seemed to be in a frantic state and talking wildly to her friends. It dawned on him that he hadn't told her about completing his report so he made his way to her. The crowd parted for him, for no one wanted to get in the way of the feared Yusuke Urameshi. He rolled his eyes. Stupid people. He had never started a fight once in his entire life. The fight had always been brought to him in one form or another. If not for that then he would usually keep to himself.  
  
"Keiko." He said, tapping her on the shoulder. She turned around and smiled happily when she saw him.  
  
"Yusuke!" She said in surprise. She gave him a brief hug. "So whataya think my chances are, hm?" She asked, stepping back a way.  
  
Yusuke looked around again. "It's in the bag Keiko. I bet over half of these people are here for you." He said encouragingly.  
  
The girl looked dreadfully worried. "I hope so . . ." She looked at him slyly then. "And if I DON'T win I'm blaming it all on you!"  
  
Yususke chuckled and rolled his eyes. "So what else is new? Uh hey, so guess what I--"  
  
Suddenly, Yusuke was cut off by the summoning, high-pitched voice of a girl over the crowd. "Keiko!" She called in urgency.  
  
Keiko lifted her head, craning her neck to catch a glimpse of her friend. "What?" She called.  
  
"Oh Keiko hurry up, the first few votes are being tallied!" She said.  
  
Keiko gasped. "All right I'm coming! Bye Yusuke!" She said and before he could utter another sound she disappeared into the crowd.  
  
Yusuke watched her go, and it was just like in his dream only minus the blood and the demons. Although he supposed that the kids could somehow symbolize the demons. They ignored him, walked around him, never once acknowledging his presence and Keiko, well he'd wanted to speak to Keiko, but couldn't, and then her walking away was like a slap in the face to him. He shook his head. He'd been doing WAY too much English, but at least he could safely say he now understood symbolism. He rolled his eyes. Yay! Yusuke's accomplishment for the day! Suddenly he felt more ill than he had earlier in the morning. He coughed and he had a bit of a headache. He had to ignore it though. So rather than paying any sort of attention to it, he looked around for a line to get in. He saw one that was shorter than the rest and stepped in with a sigh. Headaches were somewhat difficult to ignore. 


	9. My Sweet Heart's Rival Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Me: Hm . . . now I KNOW that I came here for SOMETHING! It had something to do with uh . . . um . . . disregarding all fact and claiming that own Yu Yu Hakusho . . .  
  
Random Dude: No! You're here to say that you DON'T own Yu Yu Hakusho so people don't sue you! Read the damned cue cards! That's what they're here for! God!  
  
Me: ^_^, Eheh . . . um well, you heard the man. I actually don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of its characters. Surprised? You shouldn't be. Anyway, I'm out so you guys can move on. Thanks for stopping by!  
  
Author's Note: Hello everyone! This story is going slow huh? I'm sorry. ^_^, I'm trying really heard to get it all together and I plan on ending it really soon here, but thanks to all of those who have been patient enough to bare with me. It means a lot to me, really it does. Please enjoy this chapter and while you do that I'll begin workin' on the next one! Do we have a deal? Great! Thanks again! ^_^  
  
Chapter: 9  
  
"All right everyone, the votes are in. Are you all ready to find out who's going to be the lucky girl?" Asked the announcer.  
  
The classroom was utterly quiet, as though the slightest sound would shatter the silence like glass. Keiko's eyes seemed to burn holes in to the intercom, for their intensity was maddening. The class either watched her in wonder, or the intercom in suspense, and they were all glad that Amissa and Keiko didn't share the period. They were violent girls . . .  
  
"Okay, so, between Amissa and Keiko, the one who received the most votes, but only by two is . . ."  
  
Keiko's heart was beating in her head.  
  
"Keiko Yukimura!"  
  
Suddenly, the class erupted in cheers and clapping and congratulatory comments. Keiko let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding and smiled. 'By two votes . . . damn you're lucky girl.' She told herself.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Yusuke let a small smiled spread across his face. She had won, he was happy for her, he really was. He was happy for her despite the fact that his stomach was terribly upset and his head felt heavier than the rest of his body. Oh well, he supposed that he only had one more hour to spend with Ms. Yugumai and then he could go home and finish the rest of his homework, which although it wasn't exactly relaxing, he could lay down and rest and pass his classes at the same time. Score! . . . Not really . . . Yusuke felt to tired to do his work, he felt to tired to rest . . . he felt as though he WERE the definition of the word 'tired'. He sighed as the bell rang, sounding the end of the last class of the day. He managed to pull himself up out of the desk and grab his books, and he managed to drag himself out of classroom, down the hall, and into Ms. Yugumai's room.  
  
She was talking with another student so he waited patiently by the door. When she finished the student turned to leave. She stopped momentarily; quite surprised to see him standing there and then left the room without an uttered word. Ms. Yugumai smiled at him, but it was only a habitual greeting gesture, for it soon transformed into a slight frown of concern. "Yusuke you look exhausted and you're still so pale." She commented.  
  
Yusuke shifted under her maternal eyes. "Uh . . . nice to see you too." He said in a sarcastically uncomfortable manner.  
  
Ms. Yugumai still frowned at him and suddenly an awkward silence took up residence between the pair . . . or rather, an awkward silence for Yusuke. Ms. Yugumai seemed to wrapped up in her thoughts and concern to feel uncomfortable. He groaned.  
  
"Ms. Yugumai, please can we just do this? I know that I'm not looking my Sunday best (so to speak) but I want to be here." He said.  
  
The pretty young woman sighed. "Very well, but you have to promise me that you'll go home and rest . . . oh! And you have to let me drive you." She declared, fixing her favorite student with a defiant stare.  
  
Yusuke sagged his shoulders. God! If someone saw him riding home with a teacher . . . well come on! Yusuke Urameshi riding in the same vehicle with TEACHER? It was just unheard of! But, Ms. Yugumai did not look as though she would take 'no' for an answer, so Yusuke nodded reluctantly. "Fine, I'll let you take me home, but it's stupid, I mean, I AM in walking distance." He said, crossing his arms over his chest in childish show of discontent.  
  
Ms. Yugumai laughed. "Now, now dear, if I were you I'd tuck that lower pouty lip back in or someone's going to hook it!"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Ah! Keiko! Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod!" Squealed one of the many girls that surrounded her. "You won! This is sooooo great!"  
  
Keiko laughed and hugged the girl. "I know! But oh God you guys we have so much to do! I won, but now we actually have to organize everything, and it all has to PERFECT down to the very last morsel of food. So do you think we can do it?"  
  
"Yeah!"  
  
"Duh!"  
  
"Of coarse we can!"  
  
"Damn straight!"  
  
Keiko heard several more replies and she felt her blood just rushing through her veins in excitement.  
  
"Yukimura!"  
  
All talking ceased as the girls heard Keiko's last name being spat out as though it were poison to the tongue. They turned around to see Amissa marching toward them, her face twisted in rage. Keiko's friends seemed to back behind her a ways, but Keiko stood firm, fixing Amissa with an expressionless gaze. The blonde girl came very close so they were almost face-to-face. They stared at one another for a time and all was silent save for a soft, whistling breeze that attempted to soften the electric atmosphere between the two rivals. But alas, the breeze could do nothing and so it fell still. Then, Amissa stepped back a bit and dealt a slap right across Keiko's cheek. Keiko still stared at her expressionlessly and gently fingered her stinging, suddenly tender flesh. A small, if not victorious smile tugged at the corners of her lips and then Keiko stepped back. "What? Baby upset because she lost?" She asked in the voice that she used to talk to her baby cousin, although perhaps a tad bit smugger.  
  
Amissa's fair cheeks flushed red and she raised her hand again, but Keiko threw her a warning look that Amissa dared not to ignore. She withdrew her intent and settled for a deep breath to calm her. "Just remember Keiko . . . you won by 2 votes. And one day you'll not be so fortuitous." And with that she turned on her heel and walked away.  
  
Everyone watched her leave and as a true smile appeared on Keiko's lips all of the other girls began giggling and giving each other high-fives.  
  
Keiko clapped her hands. "Hey, hey! Quiet down everyone . . . we've got work to do!"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Kuwabara sighed and laid down his pencil. He couldn't think about his science homework at the moment, for something else was bothering him. He kept getting this nagging feeling, no doubt spawned from his empathic and spiritual abilities. Something wasn't right, and he knew that it had to do with Yusuke and Keiko. He'd seen Urameshi earlier that day, and his friend hadn't looked so great. He looked ill, but Kuwabara had never seen Yusuke ill before.  
  
And what about Keiko? Kuwabara hadn't seen anything but the occasional glimpses of Keiko zipping through the hallway, or surrounded by her friends, and he saw her in the one class that they shared, but he never was given the chance to speak with her. He wasn't really sure that speaking with her would help anything anyway.  
  
He frowned deeply and absently began petting his not so little anymore calico cat a littler harder than he meant to. This resulted in the feline getting up, and giving him a nasty glare to know that his action wasn't appreciated. She did not leave though, for she loved Kuwabara as much as he loved her, and after all, the boy did take very good care of her. She glanced down at her midsection and back at Kuwabara. Yes, she never starved. The cat let out a yawn and lay back down. Kuwabara smiled at her briefly before going back to his pondering.  
  
If he couldn't talk to Keiko and was sure that Yusuke was out of the question, who could he talk to who would know anything? Nobody he imagined. He shrugged. Well, he'd call up the smartest person he knew and see if HE could lend him a hand, although it was very unlikely. As often and as openly as Yusuke and Keiko fought, when it came down to the real heart wrenching stuff it was anybody's guess.  
  
He picked up the phone and dialed Kurama's number. Two rings sounded before the phone was picked up and answered by Kurama's soft, tenor voice.  
  
"Hey Kurama, this is Kuwabara." He spoke. "Yeah, so listen, do you have any thoughts on Urameshi? Hm? Well yeah, I got this nagging feeling that won't go away, and it's sorta worrying me. Now? Sure I can. Yeah, okay, bye."  
  
Kuwabara hung up the phone. Kurama had said that they should meet and talk, and Kuwabara agreed. He glanced out the window. The sky was a light shade of blue, for the sun was nothing more than a sliver of light sinking into an inevitable sea of the night's dark. He sighed and threw on a baggy sweatshirt. "Bye Aikichee!" He said, waving farewell to his beloved feline.  
  
He left the room and left a note on the table in case Shizuru came home and wondered where he'd wandered off. Then he made his way to the park where he knew Kurama was all ready awaiting him.  
  
It was a pleasant evening, slightly cool, but yet refreshing in a sense. He took a deep breath and savored nighttime's unique flavor on his tongue. There were a few couples about, holding hands, talking, whispering, and every now and then laughing quietly. Yes, it was very nice and one time, he hoped to share such a night with his beloved Yukina. Why, the very thought of her made his heart flutter in his chest, and he couldn't help a big, goofy smile.  
  
Kuwabara was so very indulged in his thoughts of the lovely ice maiden that he forgot momentarily his reason for being at the park. He also failed to notice someone come up behind him, so that when that someone placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, he yelped and jumped.  
  
Kurama chuckled. "Could one conclude that your mind is elsewhere?" He asked in amusement.  
  
Kuwabara looked at him with wide, annoyed eyes. "Yeah, ONE could CONCLUDE that." He said bitterly.  
  
Kurama shrugged. And joined his friend's side. They began walking, and neither was sure if they ever planned on deciding on a place to sit, it was nice to walk.  
  
"Man Kurama, you've GOT to give people fair warning before you just pop up outta nowhere like that. One day you're gunna hurt someone." Kuwabara said.  
  
"Perhaps, but then, you're the only one who never detects me." Replied the redhead.  
  
"Yeah." Kuwabara mumbled under his breath. He needed a subject change. "Okay, so anyway. What about Urameshi?"  
  
"He's sick." Came the simple reply.  
  
"Yeah I know that Kurama, but--"  
  
Kurama looked at him, his eyes glinting in the dull lamps. Kuwabara shuddered as he thought he saw a flash of gold. Kurama was eerie . . .  
  
"I mean heart sick." He interrupted.  
  
Now this stopped Kuwabara in his tracks. "Heart sick? What do you mean?"  
  
They began walking again. Kurama looked up at the sky for a moment and then straight ahead. "Yusuke's immune system in stronger than that of any normal human's and the reason for this is because of his Rei-ki. A normal cold that he could catch from say . . . being out in a rain storm too long would be fought off with no problem, but it hasn't and the reason is because he's fallen in to a state of depression." Kurama explained.  
  
Kuwabara stole a moment to reflect on the fox's answer. It made perfect sense, but then, Kurama never said anything that didn't. "Heart sick." He repeated aloud. "That's the worst kind of sick." He said, and Kurama nodded his head slowly in agreement.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Yusuke's head felt heavy and he could barely hold it up. His eyes seemed determined to shut despite his formidable efforts to keep them from doing so. His fingers felt haggard as he wrote the short answers required for his schoolwork, and it took tons of effort to move his hand across the paper.  
  
He yawned. Yusuke did not remember a time when he'd felt quite so bad. Sure he had been beaten to a bloody pulp numerous times, had broken almost every bone in his body, died twice and was resurrected both times, and once when he was little Keiko go really mad at him and shoved him down a flight of stairs, but NEVER did he remember feeling so terrible.  
  
At this thought Yusuke dropped his pencil and dropped his head, his entire body going completely lax, no longer able to fight off sleep. This however was a good thing, for his body was tired and he was over exerting himself, and it was 2:30 in the morning. Yes, sleep came easy, and this night no dreams came to haunt him.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Keiko shifted in her bed, for some reason unable to get comfortable. She thought that maybe she was still on an adrenaline rush from all that great excitement of winning the campaign. It was such a wonderful feeling! However, something was nagging at the back of her mind. She felt as though she were forgetting something . . . perhaps a very important something, but the thought never occurred to the girl that she may have been forgetting a someone. 


	10. My Sweet Heart's Rival Chapter 10 The En...

Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN YU YU HAKSUHO! . . . any questions? Okay, cool.  
  
Author's Note: Hello all. Well, it's been a long road, but this is it, the very last chapter of My Sweet Heart's Rival. I want to thank everyone who read this story and stuck with it, even when I didn't update in . . . ever. But yeah, so its been fun everyone. Read and please enjoy!  
  
(Y)  
(-.-)  
(")(")o  
  
Chapter: 10  
  
"Caitlin! Come over here please." Keiko beckoned to her friend who stood about a yard away from here.  
  
"Yeah, what is it?"  
  
Keiko handed her a list. "This list is of ALL the things that we need to buy to set up the cafeteria and make it look like the ideal place for a dance."  
  
Caitlin's eyes widened. "Oh but Keiko, how're we supposed to--"  
  
"Good question." Keiko said, cutting her off. "We'll have to raise money fast. Any ideas?"  
  
"Hm . . . well, what about a . . . a car wash? Or maybe a bake sale?"  
  
Keiko nodded. "Good. Go around and ask everyone what they think then report back to me and I'll get everything arranged in accordance to what you decide, okay?"  
  
The other girl nodded. "Yes sir, chief!" She said and marched away.  
  
Keiko smiled after her friend and turned to face the entire cafeteria. The place was stark and white, and there were messes of lights and other decorations scattered around, lying in heaps on the tables and floor. She let out a sigh. It looked hopeless, but she'd get this place fixed up if it killed her! Suddenly, someone yelled as a ladder fell, pulling off a string of white lights from the wall. The person, the ladder, and the lights fell to the floor in one big mess. Keiko shook her head. And it very well may kill her . . . she needed an aspirin.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Yusuke let himself float in his dreamless sleep. It was nice and warm, and oh how he wanted to stay! But . . . there was a voice, one that kept nagging at him to wake up, yanking him toward consciousness. For a moment he thought it was Kurama again, but no. The kitsune's voice was soft and tenor, and not nearly as impatient. The voice that was calling to him was somewhat high-pitched and screechy and really . . . really. . . "ANNOYING!" Yelled Yusuke.  
  
Without even checking to see whom it was, he jumped up and whacked the person hard with is pillow.  
  
"OW! URAMESHI! WHAT'D YA DO THAT FOR!?" Came the same voice. Yusuke looked to see Kuwabara sprawled out on the floor with an indignant look on his face. He couldn't help but grin. "It's sad enough that you pick fights with ME and lose every time, but then you have to go and pick a fight with my PILLOW and lose? Come on." He taunted.  
  
As expected, Kuwabara's face turned red and he jumped up. "I can take you AND your pillow any time and any where Urameshi, and don't you ever forget it!"  
  
Yusuke rolled his eyes and lay back down. "Whatever." He said and promptly threw his pillow in Kuwabara's face. Needless to say, it did hit the other boy. A few moments of silence went by before Kuwabara sat down on the side of Yusuke's bed.  
  
"So uh . . . it's Saturday. You wanna do something?" Kuwabara asked tentatively.  
  
"Can't." came Yusuke's muffled reply, as he had his face buried in his reclaimed pillow.  
  
Kuwabara let out a sigh. "Why not? What could be more fun than hangin' out with a cool person like me, huh?" He asked. He was teasing.  
  
Yusuke chuckled and looked up at him, for a moment, that comforting light was present in his eyes again. "Heh. Fighting another Dark Tournament." Replied Yusuke.  
  
Kuwabara smiled ever so slightly. At least he had put his friend in good humor for a bit. "Funny." He retorted sarcastically.  
  
The dark haired tantai sat up. "Yeah, well . . . I'm a funny guy." He said quietly. Another silence ensued.  
  
"But seriously. That cool movie is finally in theatres and I was wonderin' if you wanted to go."  
  
Yusuke shrugged. "I can't, but maybe you can get Kurama to go with you."  
  
Kuwabara frowned. "Why not?"  
  
The other boy made a notion toward his books and things on the floor. "Make up work. If I do that stuff, they'll let me pass middle school."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Kuwabara eyed the scattered papers and books. Urameshi needed a friend, someone to take his mind off of his heart sickness as Kurama had called it. "Well that's cool man. I can help you. I'm actually really good a social studies and I have a B in that class. I could have pulled an A, but I never did any class work, just aced all of the tests."  
  
Yusuke eyed his friend in surprise at such a generous offer. He thought about refusing it, thinking that maybe he just wanted to be alone . . . but then . . . did he? Not really. He didn't want to be alone at all. He wanted his mind to preoccupy itself with other things . . . and he REALLY wanted his headache to go away. Some painkillers could take care of that though, and Kuwabara could help with taking his mind off of . . . other things. "Yeah, that'd be cool." Yusuke said.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Kurama sighed as he finished up the last of his homework. The breeze from his open bedroom window messed with his hair and he closed his tired eyes. He hadn't been sleeping so well lately. His mind had been wondering about Yusuke. The youko turned human did not like the fact that a certain something had been sucked out of their friend and leader. He thought about approaching Keiko, and at first he had preferred to let Yusuke and her work the problem out themselves. However, now, talking to her was looking better and better.  
  
He closed his eyes and relaxed in his chair. He needed to think. Behind his closed eyelids, Kurama's eyes began to sting, urging him to let himself fall victim to unconsciousness, but the fox was stubborn and forced himself to beat out the stinging. His mind wandered in all directions, pondering, calculating, and planning. . . all of the things that his mind usually did anyway. Suddenly, the breeze seemed to stop abruptly. He sighed and slowly opened his eyes to look toward his window. He quickly found the source of the problem and cracked a gentle, welcoming smile.  
  
"Ah, back so soon Hiei?"  
  
The darkly clad fire youkai jumped from the windowsill and allowed the breeze to continue its path into the fox's room. "Hn." He replied, making his way over to Kurama's bed. He sat down and Kurama got up, waiting for more of an answer to come. It did.  
  
"Mukuro was generous enough to give me some time off."  
  
Kurama smiled. "Well I'm glad that she isn't working you too hard."  
  
Hiei shrugged and Kurama noticed him wince ever so slightly. The fox shook his head, but Hiei did not see this. If Hiei would not TELL him that he was injured, well, Kurama would have to do it the hard way . . . "Hiei." He said calmly, and discretely picked up a book from his shelf.  
  
"Hm?"  
  
Kurama grinned. "Catch!" With that small warning, the fox chucked the heavy book to Hiei. Out of instinct, Hiei caught it with his right hand, but dropped it instantly, as the book's impact in his hand had jarred his injured shoulder. The youkai glared daggers at the smirking fox. "What the hell, Kurama!" He yelled.  
  
Kurama looked rather smug. "I thought so. Lay down and let me help you." He instructed.  
  
Hiei still glared, but he did as told. Kurama walked to his bedside and helped Hiei take off his cloak and shirt. Kurama inspected the damage. Hiei's shoulder was a mess. The skin was torn and there were pieces actually hanging from a deep gash that was caked with dry blood and oozing sickly green puss. Kurama made a face of disgust. "Jesus, what the hell happened?" He asked.  
  
Hiei shrugged his good shoulder. "Yukina crossed the border. She's headed back to the land of the koorimes to explain to them that she is staying here, in Ningenkai. If she doesn't tell them they'll come here looking for her, which, ultimately, wouldn't end well. Anyway, a demon attacked her. I jumped in front and took the blow, having no time to do anything else. Then, I escorted her to her destination."  
  
Kurama raised an eyebrow. "Why didn't you have her heal you?"  
  
"I didn't want her to waste her energy on me."  
  
The fox shook his head. "Honestly Hiei, you have GOT to take better care of yourself. If you had come a day later I'd end up having to amputate! God, okay this is going to hurt like hell, all right?" He warned. He disappeared into the bathroom and reappearing with a bowl filled with water, a rag, and gauze.  
  
Hiei shrugged his good shoulder. "I've been through worse and even if you-- " He replied stoically.  
  
Kurama rolled his eyes. "And even if I amputated you could still take on half the Makai and live. I know, I know." He said.  
  
Hiei let a smile curve on one side of his lips. "Yeah." It amused him how the fox could read his mind like that.  
  
Kurama set to work wiping the blood and puss away, and then he removed all of the hanging threads of flesh. Hiei winced, or sucked in his breath, or closed his eyes due to the pain, but he did not utter a sound.  
  
Kurama reached into his hair and pulled out two seeds. In his palm, one grew into a small, blue flower with a red center. Kurama plucked the petals and held them out to Hiei. "Singe." He ordered. Hiei shrugged and did so. The petals shriveled and turned black. Kurama crushed them in his hand and then sprinkled them into the deep gash. Hiei hissed in pain.  
  
"Those will help to heal it quicker, help your body start rejuvenating the torn tissues and such."  
  
Hiei nodded. Kurama grew the other seed into a large, broad leaf that was somewhat fuzzy and soft. Kurama held it over Hiei's wound and squeezed. Out of the leaf poured several drops of a clear, thick liquid. They landed heavily on the areas where the skin was missing and along the edges of the gash. The moment they hit, they turned into a white, fizzy type of foam. Hiei sucked in his breath as Kurama blew softly of the wound and the liquid dried into a cool sort of seal. Suddenly, Hiei's shoulder fell completely numb.  
  
Kurama smiled. "Works fast huh?"  
  
"What was it?"  
  
"It'll help to seal the wound, grow back that skin, disinfect it, and of coarse, numb the pain. I had to blow on it and dry it, because if that gets mixed the flower petals, the two components create a rather deadly poison."  
  
At Hiei's raised eyebrow Kurama decided to add that once the substance was dry it was perfectly harmless, and Hiei relaxed at this revelation. The fox set to work wrapping Hiei's shoulder with the white gauze. Hiei watched him for a time, noting easily his friend's tiredness.  
  
"You know, I didn't ONLY come back because of Mukuro letting me." Hiei said.  
  
Kurama glanced at him, but then went back to his wrapping. "I know." He replied.  
  
"I came back because of Yusuke. His ki does not feel as strong. "  
  
Kurama nodded. "I thought you would." He replied.  
  
"What's going on?"  
  
". . . If I tell you will you promise to be more careful in the future?"  
  
"Now you KNOW I can't do that Kurama."  
  
"Fine, then you have to promise that when you're injured you won't try hiding it from me."  
  
Hiei sighed. Well anyway, it felt nice to have someone worry and care about him. "I promise."  
  
Kurama finished dressing the wound and sat down across from Hiei in his chair. "Okay, so it all started when . . ."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Lunch break everyone!" Keiko yelled, her voice echoing throughout the crowded cafeteria.  
  
Tons of relieved sighs were heard. She smiled as people started filing out.  
  
"Hey Keiko, we're going to that café down the street. You wanna come?" Asked Caitlin.  
  
She shook her head. "Thanks, but I think I'll hang out here. I'm really not very hungry."  
  
"You're sure?"  
  
"Yeah, you guys go on ahead."  
  
"Okay, see ya in an hour."  
  
"Bye." Keiko said, and she watched her friend's retreating forms.  
  
It wasn't long before the entire room was empty . . . well, except for her of coarse. Other than the fact that the earlier messes had been organized so that there were specific messes, they hadn't gotten very far. On the other hand, the group had chosen to do a carwash, which would help them raise money because the school could only pay for so much. She didn't mind really, after all, it was her responsibility now. The school was paying for catering and drinks and things, while they had to come up with enough cash to bring the stark, barren cafeteria to life.  
  
She sighed as she got up to go and reorganize the messes in an attempt make them look less messy. Somehow, she didn't see that happening, but whatever.  
  
The minutes ticked by, but Keiko didn't notice until she looked at the clock and realized that there were only ten minutes left of the hour long lunch break. It was very quiet. She wondered when people would start coming back. She heard footsteps then and turned around to greet her loyal workers, but her business welcoming face faltered as she saw Kurama and Hiei appear. "Uh . . . hey there." She said.  
  
Kurama smiled and Hiei . . . well stayed the same.  
  
"How is everything going in here?" Kurama asked, coming toward her.  
  
Keiko shrugged. "How does it LOOK like it's going?"  
  
"Indeed." Replied the fox.  
  
Kieko looked toward Hiei and smiled. "You're back. How is everything?" She asked good-naturedly.  
  
Hiei stared at her, but Keiko was unfazed. She still expected an answer. "Well enough." He answered in monotone.  
  
"Great. You know Yusuke will be so happy to see you." Keiko said absently. Her statement, however, caught both demons attention. Kurama and Hiei matched one another, stare for stare before Kurama cleared his throat.  
  
"Keiko, we actually came here to speak with you about . . . Yusuke." He said.  
  
Keiko tilted her head slightly. Her friend's voice sounded very concerned. "Is he injured?" She asked cautiously.  
  
Kurama bit his lip. In a sense he was, but Keiko obviously meant physically. "No, nothing like that . . . necessarily anyway. Actually he--"  
  
"Keiko! Oh my God, Sota had this great idea and you have come now!" A voice yelled excitedly, cutting Kurama off. They all snapped their heads in the direction of the girl. She ran up and took hold of Keiko's wrist, giving her a soft yank. "Come on!"  
  
Keiko felt that familiar adrenaline rush again and her eyes seemed to light up. "You guys, I have to go. We'll talk later though, okay? Bye!" With those words, Keiko disappeared from the room with her ecstatic companion.  
  
Kurama and Hiei were left staring at empty space for a few moments, and then they turned to one another.  
  
Hiei sighed. "I can see what you mean."  
  
The fox supported his head on his loosely drawn fist. "Yusuke isn't much better I'm afraid."  
  
"What will you do?"  
  
Kurama eyed the jaganashi slyly. "What do you mean ME?" He asked.  
  
Hiei's eyebrows rose. "Don't even go there Kurama." He said.  
  
"Come on Hiei, we have to help them!"  
  
"I don't see why. They got THEMSELVES in to this mess, why should it be OUR job to get them out?"  
  
Kurama let out an agitated sigh. "Well, one, I'd like to get some sleep, two, how many times has Yusuke saved the world and our asses along with it, and three, Keiko and Yusuke are good kids and they BELONG with one another."  
  
Hiei rolled his eyes. He eyed the fox. "God, you're such a girl." He said.  
  
The fox grinned. "That a 'yes'?"  
  
He sighed reluctantly. "I guess."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Kuwabara's phone rang several times before the boy woke up to snatch it up.  
  
"Hello?" He asked drowsily. "K'rama? That you?" He yawned. "What is it? It's like 2:00 in the morning. Hiei? Uh . . . could it wait till morning? . . . Yeah I guess you're right, it sorta is already morning huh? Fine, I'll be there in like . . . 15 minutes, m'kay? M'kay bye." With that Kuwabara dropped the phone and went back to sleep.  
  
Five minutes passed and his phone rang again. "Hello? Oh hi K'rama, what is it? I was s'posed to meet you where? In how many minutes? Yeah, sure, thanks for calling to check up, I'll be there in ten. Right, okay, bye." Kuwabara hung the phone up and dozed off once more.  
  
7 minutes later the phone rang again. Kuwabara answered it. "What? I was? . . . Okay, wait, I remember now . . . I'm sorry, I'll be there in ten minutes, I just gotta get dressed. It won't take long, I just have to throw some pants and a shirt on, okay? Sure, bye." Kuwabara dropped the phone on the floor, and the dial tone was heard on deaf ears, for sleep had claimed the boy again.  
  
Ten minutes passed and suddenly, a shriek sounded throughout Kuwabara's house. Shizuru awoke and quickly went to her brother's room, only to find him sprawled out on the floor in his white night shirt and his teddy bear boxers, surrounded by feathers from his beaten pillow. Hiei stood atop the boy's bed holding an old, worn out looking stuffed bunny as hostage to the blade of his sword.  
  
The black clad figure glared down at Kuwabara. "Now get up or the rabbit gets it." He ordered.  
  
Kuwabara got on his hands and knees. "No! Please, not Mrs. Bun Bun! Anything but Mrs. Bun Bun!" He pleaded.  
  
Hiei opened his mouth to say more, but he then noticed Shizuru standing in the doorway. He nodded at her. "Hey Shizuru." He greeted.  
  
"Hey Hiei. How's everything?" She asked casually.  
  
The jaganashi shrugged. "Pretty good, you?"  
  
"Well enough."  
  
"Good to hear." Replied Hiei.  
  
"Yeah, well, I'm off to bed, I'll see ya around Hiei."  
  
"Yeah, good night."  
  
With that Shizuru left the room and Hiei went back to his threatening. It was a mere 15 minutes later that both Kuwabara and Hiei showed up at the all night café. Kurama was awaiting, pleasant and patient as always. They all ordered coffee, although Kuwabara's was espresso plus a few added spoonfuls of sugar so as to keep his eyelids from drooping. He cradled the cup as though it were his very life. "So what's this all about?" He asked through a yawn.  
  
"Yusuke and Keiko." Replied the fox.  
  
Kuwabara regarded his friends with a raised eyebrow. He had thought that it was decided that they would merely work things out on their own, but apparently, there had been a change in plans. He shrugged. It didn't matter either way to him. He just wanted things to go back to the way they were . . . and to have the privilege of still maintaining an unconscious state at 2:00 in the morning. That would be nice too.  
  
He listened as Hiei and Kurama explained to him their theories and carefully thought out plans. Everything sounded perfectly flawless, but then, Kurama and Hiei had made the plan up, so flaws were pretty much nonexistent.  
  
By the end of the hour, everything had been laid out. Kurama finished up the last of his coffee and set the cup down carefully. "So, is everyone clear?" He asked. Hiei nodded, and so did Kuwabara. Kurama seemed satisfied enough. "Very well." He said. "Then that's it. I'll see you all later." With that, the three boys departed.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Keiko sighed in utter relief. She looked around. The room was completely transformed. It had gone from a deathly stark cafeteria to a lovely, midnight ballroom complete with dazzling lights and tables adorned with fine cloth and lovely centerpieces. The floor was shiny and there were side tables with very intricate food designs on them. It was all just perfect. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Hey girl."  
  
"Hey Caitlin." She said.  
  
Her friend looked around with a smile. "It all happens tonight you know, and you did a great job setting this place up . . . now all that's left is to set YOU up."  
  
Keiko giggled and looked down at her jeans and t-shirt. Caitlin was right. She did need to head home and start getting ready. She sighed again, taking one last look at her masterpiece before she left to go home.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Kuwabara knocked impatiently on Yusuke's door. There was no answer until Atsuko came to the door and opened it. She smiled. "Oh hey there Kuwabara, come on in. Yusuke should be getting ready. You can go right into his room, he shouldn't care and if he does . . . oh well." She said, allowing him inside.  
  
Kuwabara thanked her and went to his friend's room. The door was closed, but what did he care? He pushed it open without any worries. He sighed when he saw the state of his friend. Yusuke was paler than he had been before, and he looked very tired. Kuwabara shook his head, and put on a smile. "Hey Urameshi! What are you doing sitting around here for? We're going to get there really late if you don't get ready." He said.  
  
Yusuke looked at him drowsily. His head ached, and those painkillers weren't helping. Tired. He didn't want to go, but he had to . . . he had promised himself that he would go to the dance . . . for Keiko, he would go. He smiled up at Kuwabara.  
  
"Right, I'll uh . . . be right out." He said.  
  
Kuwabara took his leave of Yusuke and waited in the living room. A few minutes later Yusuke came out wearing a pair of black slacks complete with a black belt and black shoes and he wore a dark, forest green shirt that buttoned up the front, except for the first three or four, which had been left unbuttoned. The shirt had been tucked casually, yet neatly into the pants. As per the usual, Yusuke's hair was greased up nicely.  
  
Atsuko whistled. "You clean up nicely honey." She said.  
  
Yusuke rolled his eyes and Kuwabara grinned. They were about ready to leave when Atsuko stopped them. She held up a camera and both boys groaned. "Photo up!" She said cheerily.  
  
The camera snapped the picture and the two boys were out before another word could be uttered. They sighed in relief when they were sure that they were safe from prying cameras.  
  
"So uh, this thing is really important to Keiko huh?" Kuwabara asked.  
  
Yusuke glanced at him, and then at the ground. "Yeah . . ." He replied. 'Keiko.'  
  
"Ya know, Kurama is coming."  
  
Yusuke looked at his friend fully this time. "Kurama is? Why?"  
  
Kuwabara shrugged. "Ya got me . . . heh . . . he's bringin' Hiei with him."  
  
At this, both of them simply HAD to burst out laughing.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Hiei grumbled and Kurama nudged him. "Relax Hiei." He said as they entered the cafeteria. Music was already blaring and kids were dancing, a few teachers stood around chatting at the food tables.  
  
Hiei rolled his eyes. All of this and not a damn tree for him to retreat too. It was depressing. He hated crowds . . . he was starting to hate Kurama, as the fox seemed to draw crowds to him. The worst part was that those crowds were of hormonal, giggling, squealy, human females. He just wanted this entire thing to be over with, and afterwards, he'd have to promise himself never to promise Kurama ANYTHING EVER again.  
  
He waited while Kurama pushed his way through the sea of girls to his side.  
  
"Sorry." Appologized the fox.  
  
Hiei shook his head, and Kurama smiled easily at the gesture. A few moments later they noticed that Yusuke and Kuwabara had entered. Kurama and Hiei met them immediately. Kurama, ever the observant one, inspected his friends.  
  
Yusuke looked very nice and so did Kuwabara with his khakis, brown Dockers, and dark blue shirt. He looked at Hiei's outfit for the billionth time. He had one hell of a time trying to get Hiei to wear something other than his usual. However, he had won in the end. Now, Hiei wore pants and a belt and shoes very similar to Yusuke's, only he wore a black shirt. Kurama himself was clad in khakis, brown Dockers, and a gray shirt that resembled pretty much the same style as everyone else's.  
  
He sighed. Tonight, everything would have to work out . . . and if it didn't, they'd move to plan B. . . as it was, they didn't necessarily HAVE a plan B, but they were all creative young men, surely they could think of something at the spur of a moment.  
  
"Hello Yusuke!"  
  
They all turned, Yusuke included, to the cheery voice. Yusuke smiled as he saw Ms. Yugumai come up. She was wearing a lovely black dress that was simple, and yet elegant.  
  
"Hey Ms. Yugumai." He greeted.  
  
She smiled back at him, but then frowned. "Yusuke . . ." She started.  
  
Yusuke gently shook his head, meaning, he knew what she was going to say, and that it didn't matter because he was staying no matter what.  
  
She sighed, and put on forced smile. "You," she looked at the other three, "all look very nice this evening." She said.  
  
Hiei did not acknowledge her, Kuwabara blushed and mumbled a 'thanks', while Kurama nodded politely at her. Yusuke just grinned to the best of his ability. Even the muscles in his face felt tired.  
  
He shook away his sudden wave of weariness. "You look good too. Are you uh . . . here with someone, I dunno, special?" He asked.  
  
The young teacher blushed lightly and glanced toward her date, the infamous gym teacher, with a slight smile. "Well . . ."  
  
Yusuke's grin broadened. "He really likes you Ms. Yugumai."  
  
"I know that. . . well anyway, I'd better take my leave of all of you, I wouldn't want to keep him waiting, and I'm sure you all have some mingling of your own to take a part in, so I'll see you later. Have fun tonight kids!" She said, and waved as she walked away, disappearing into the crowd.  
  
Yusuke smiled after her until Kuwabara nudged his shoulder. "Hey, Urameshi, let's head toward the food, okay?" He asked.  
  
Yusuke nodded and took the lead. Kuwabara lingered shortly behind him. He leaned toward Kurama. "Is it ready?" He whispered. The fox only nodded.  
  
They made their way toward the food and Kuwabara took a plate and filled it rather generously, while Kurama and Hiei only grabbed something to drink. Yusuke didn't grab anything, which ultimately, wasn't counted on. Kuwabara looked nervously at the two demons.  
  
Hiei rolled his crimson eyes. 'Figure something out! You can't expect us to do everything!' Hiei sent to Kuwabara through telepathy.  
  
The orange haired kid glared at the black clad figure, but then shrugged. "Hey! Try this! It's really good!" He said, shoving his plate toward Yusuke.  
  
Yusuke looked at it and shook his head. He was too nauseous to eat. "No thanks." Kuwabara frowned. "C'mon! It's good!"  
  
"No, really, I'm good."  
  
The latter's frown deepened. Fine, he'd merely have to FORCE-feed him. He waited then until Yusuke yawned, mouth opening widely, and then he shoved one of the unidentifiable food items in to his mouth.  
  
Yusuke gagged and cough, but ended up swallowing it. He was about ready to kill Kuwabara right then and there, but then a terrible after taste began to sit on his tongue. "Oh gross!" He said. "What the HELL did you put in my mouth you idiot!" He said.  
  
Kuwabara shrugged. "I though it tasted pretty good myself." He said in his defense.  
  
Hiei rolled his eyes. Well, it was rough, but it worked as well as anything else.  
  
Yusuke shook his head. "Yuck. I gotta get something to drink." He said this and began to head to where assorted drinks sat on a tray. Suddenly, Kurama stepped in his way.  
  
"Just a minute. I'll get one for you." He offered.  
  
Yusuke nodded, not thinking much of it, as Kurama was considered the polite one. The fox made his way to the drink tray and pretended to be searching for something suitable to his friend's tastes. In his show, he turned his back to his familiar party and dug a small vile of green liquid out of his pocket. It was a special concoction, personally made by him for Yusuke. He uncapped the vile and poured the liquid into a cup of soda. It was tasteless, but its effects worked without fail.  
  
He took it back to his still gagging friend and Yusuke gulped it down, sighing in utter relief as that horrible taste left his mouth. Kurama smiled to himself. All he had to do was snap his fingers, and the drug would take its effect. All they had to do now was wait.  
  
Suddenly, he heard a dissatisfied grunt off to his side. Kurama looked and simply had to chuckle. A trio of girls had cornered Hiei, and he was none to happy about it either.  
  
"Hi, my name it Aiko! Would you like to dance?" one asked.  
  
Hiei didn't even have time enough to respond before one of the other girls shoved Aiko. "No! He's dancing with me!" She said.  
  
The third shook her head and held a hand out toward Hiei. "I'm Lynn, would you like to dance with ME?" She asked.  
  
Suddenly, the two other girls shoved Lynn who retaliated with hitting back. Hiei attempted to sneak away, but he suddenly found himself confronted with the same three, only now very angry, girls. "You have to choose someone!" Cried Aiko.  
  
"Yeah!" The two others agreed in unison.  
  
Hiei gulped and backed closer to the wall. He looked around. "Uh . . ." He stared. His eyes searched frantically. "I uh . . ." Suddenly, he caught sight of Kurama and thought 'what the hell', just as long as he didn't have to bother with any of these human girls. "I um . . . can't." He said.  
  
"What? WHY!" They all yelled at once.  
  
Hiei winced. "Because my girlfriend is here!" He answered quickly.  
  
"Girl friend?" asked Lynn. "Where is she then?" She asked suspiciously.  
  
Hiei pointed to the red headed fox who had his back turned to them. "That's her right over there. Her name is Kurama." He said matter-of-factly.  
  
At the sound of his name, Kurama looked over his shoulder. The three girls mouths hung wide, and then they sulked. "Oh she's so pretty! It's not fair! If I had eyes and hair like that, all the guys would want me too." Aiko said.  
  
Lynn nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I hate her."  
  
The third female nodded and they all walked off looking miserable. Hiei let out a sigh of relief and walked back over to his group. Kurama raised an eyebrow at him. "What was that all about?" he asked.  
  
Hiei grinned. "Well uh . . if anyone asks, you and I are goin' out."  
  
Kurama sweat dropped. "Excuse me?" He asked, blinking. Hiei did not answer. Kurama put his hand on his hip. "Hiei." He said in a warning tone. "What the HELL are you talking about?"  
  
Hiei shrugged. "Nothing, nothing at all . . ."  
  
"Hiei!"  
  
"It's nothing!"  
  
The two demons bickered for a good thirty minutes to follow. Finally, the room began to quiet down, and all attention was at the front of the room where there was a platform, a podium, and a microphone. They heard the clicking of heels, and then Keiko appeared, one of the spotlights shining down on her.  
  
Yusuke's eyes went wide when he saw her. She looked quite lovely. Her slender form wore a royal blue dress that went down to her ankles and had one slit on the right side that extended up to her knee. The top part of the gown was simple, as it went straight across her upper chest and had two thin straps that hung on to her shoulders. Her heels were the same color as her dress, open toed and strappy. The minimal amount of make-up she wore gave her face a natural, but stunning glow, and her hair was down, as usual, only she had two frontal strands pulled back into braids that fastened in the back of her head with a golden colored hair clip.  
  
Her delicate hands picked up the microphone and she cleared her throat. "Welcome students and staff to this end of the year dance. It's so great to see that all of you could make it this evening. I just wanted to personally thank everyone that helped to make this once barren cafeteria into a lovely, makeshift ballroom. You've all been absolutely wonderful and if--"  
  
Keiko stopped suddenly as she seemed to feel her eyes being pulled gently toward the back of the room. Little did she know that Hiei's gently glowing, and still covered jagan was playing a hand in that. Her eyes seemed to be searching for something. She shook her head.  
  
"If it weren't for all of you, this wouldn't be possible. Honestly, you all have yourselves to thank for everything tonight. We have the school to thank for their generous donations, the students to thank for all the hard work that was . . ."  
  
She felt her attention being drawn away, again to the back. Her mind seemed to suddenly become aware that it was sitting in a thick cloud of fog, and she felt light headed, but frustrated, as if she was trying to reach something, but couldn't touch it.  
  
"As I was saying . . . we have the students to thank for all the hard work that was put into decorating and I--"  
  
Keiko's eyes passed over Kuwabara, then Kurama, and then Hiei, who's glowing jagan she remained oblivious too, and then they passed over Yusuke, and something seemed to jar her thoughts. Yusuke. He was there . . . it wasn't unusual for her to see him, certainly not, so then why did it feel as though she hadn't seen him in months? Why did he feel so distant? Her heart beat faster as the crowd began to whisper. She gently shook her head to try and clear her muddled thoughts, but she couldn't seem to.  
  
Meanwhile, Kurama glanced at Hiei, who nodded, and then Kurama snapped his fingers softly. At that exact instant, Yusuke began to feel faint. He felt, heavy and light at the same time, sleepy, and yet totally awake.  
  
Keiko watched as Yusuke's form began to relax and seemed to swerve slightly, suddenly, he seemed to crumple over in to Kuwabara's waiting arms. He was conscious, but . . . strangely not.  
  
The crowd still had their eyes on her, and at first glance nothing looked out of the ordinary, so no fusses were made, but inside Keiko's mind, that strange fog seemed to be wafting away, and the distance she had felt between herself and Yusuke began to grow smaller. It was as though what she was trying touch was him, and that she was almost there, and then, then it snapped. Sirens seemed to go off and her eyes widened. She gasped a little as she let her arms fall to her side, microphone still in hand.  
  
Keiko looked toward the floor, and she felt tears pricking at the back of her eyes. She tried to steady her suddenly rapid breathing and swallowed a lump in her throat. She looked up slowly then, facing the crowd of confused, worried faces. Keiko gradually lifted back up the microphone, holding it far away from her lips.  
  
" . . . And I . . . have been a fool." She finished.  
  
The faces were still confused, and the whispers more urgent. "Please excuse me." She said quietly, and set down the microphone.  
  
She all but leapt from the platform and pushed through the crowd, ignoring and brushing off all of those other people. One person in particular refused to back down. Keiko glared at her for a moment, partially out of habit, but then her features softened and she put a hand on Amissa's shoulder. "Why don't you take over for me, hm? I need to be with someone right now." With that she continued walking.  
  
Amissa stared after her. "Uh . . . Keiko." Called the blonde.  
  
Keiko looked back at her over her shoulder. Amissa bit her lip, looked away and then back at her long time rival. She sighed and nodded, and a soft, barely visible smile graced her lips. Keiko smiled back and continued on her path.  
  
Her course took her directly to Yusuke who still leaned on Kuwabara for help standing. Keiko hesitated as she glanced at an easily smiling Kurama, a regular looking Hiei, and Kuwabara looking at her with kind eyes of understanding and relief. Gently, she took Yusuke's arm and slung it over her shoulder. She took another look at her friends and mouthed a thank you before taking her leave of the room and the school.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Yusuke had a strange dream that could hardly be considered deep. He dreamt that he was drowning in a huge bowl of chicken ramen . . . oddly enough, he had had that dream many times when he was a child. But, whenever he had that dream, he was always woken up by someone, and so, when he felt himself drifting back to consciousness, he was not surprised.  
  
His eyes slowly slid open and he felt that he was lying on a familiar bed, his own. A cool, damp cloth was resting on his forehead, and he was pleasantly surprised to find that he felt better upon waking.  
  
Suddenly, he heard soft humming and slight shuffling. He wanted to sit up, but his body felt tired and heavy. He yawned instead and stretched.  
  
"Awake? I thought you'd be out for at least another hour." Said a soft voice.  
  
Yusuke gulped. He recognized it. "K-Keiko?" He sputtered.  
  
The spoken girl leaned over him. Her eyes were misty, as though she had been crying, her smile sad, regretful, and guilty. "Hey there." She greeted.  
  
Yusuke blinked. "I--" But a finger was suddenly placed to his lips, silencing him.  
  
"Sh. Don't say anything . . . you shouldn't have too. I should have a lot to say, but you know its crazy . . . I don't. I just . . . oh God Yusuke, I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed abruptly, and crushed him into an embrace.  
  
Yusuke hesitated, but he then wrapped his arms around her smaller form. He wasn't sure what the hell was going on, but it felt too good to get to hold her so he wasn't about to complain. Things would probably be explained to him later . . . they usually were anyway, and something told him that later, whenever that was, was going to feel just as good as now was. Yeah, things would be okay from now on . . . he knew that.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Kurama stared up at Yusuke's lighted window, a satisfied smile on his face. Hiei couldn't help one either.  
  
"So . . ." Kurama started, turning to the fire demon.  
  
Hiei looked at his friend. "So what?" He asked.  
  
Kurama grinned. "So, we should do this more often." He said.  
  
Hiei groaned and rolled his eyes. "I think not." He replied.  
  
"Oh come on, we both know you enjoyed playing match makers Hiei!"  
  
The jaganshi rolled his eyes. "Please! That was like watching a bad soap opera."  
  
Kurama chuckled. "Yeah, one you helped produce." He said mockingly.  
  
The pair turned to head back toward Kurama's.  
  
Hiei grunted. "Whatever. I'm NEVER promising to help you with ANYTHING EVER again."  
  
"That's no way to talk to your girlfriend Hiei." Kurama teased.  
  
Hiei blushed, causing Kurama to laugh merrily. "You're too easy, ya know that?"  
  
"Ha! Youko Kurama, infamous thief and lover of the Makai calling ME easy? That's the pot calling the kettle black."  
  
Kurama made a mock, woeful face and put a hand to his chest. He pretended to rip out his heart and hold it out to Hiei. "Here, I think this belongs to you!" He said way over dramatically.  
  
"Ch! If you ever drag me into anything like that again, I'll be carving it out of your chest FOR you."  
  
"Oh yeah, that a threat?"  
  
"That's a fact."  
  
Overhead the stars and their father the silver moon laughed as they listened to the two friend's merry banter fade off into the night breeze. Tomorrow would be a new day, and for two very particular teenagers, a fresh beginning.  
  
-OWARI 


End file.
